Golden Globes of Light
by Trisket Trange
Summary: I reposted it. DX
1. Chapter 1

**Yeah I had this posted a few weeks ago but I'm putting it back up...**

**Credit goes to torkie10!**

"We have got to find out what happened here," Ashiel said grimly. I could only nod my head as I considered what the inhabitants must have gone through before the end.

Most of the city was underwater, probably due to Ky's wrath. The heart of the city was the only thing left standing, and there were very few buildings left. To me it appeared as if the entire city had been destroyed overnight, and then somewhat repaired. The library was gone, so we could not have left the tunnels anyway, even if they were not sealed off, so we chose to investigate the town hall instead. As we were surveying the damage, a soft voice behind me startled me so deeply that I accidentally lashed out with my whip as I spun around. To my great surprise, the figure before me did not flinch as the whip went right through it. I gasped as I realized it was a ghost. "Impossible," we both said together.

The ghost gave a soft laugh. "I thought... I thought Jahbal had killed all of you long ago. Yet here you are," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Faelinn? Is that you?" Lilly asked softly. The ghost nodded. "What happened? What happened to you, to the city, to Jantal and the rest of the Circle?"

"After you left, the remainder of the Circle cast a curse on the city, and we were overrun. We were doomed to remain here as the undead, powerless to stop the advance of Jahbal," Faelinn moaned. We sat down after she motioned for us to be seated, and she began to recount what had happened while we were gone. "Shortly after the city fell, the Circle betrayed Xantan and stripped him of his powers. After that, the Circle turned on Jahbal, and he fled to the Two Rings Palace."

"Who are Jahbal and Xantan?" Kassiel interrupted.

"You knew them as Jantal and Zan, respectively," Faelinn explained softly. "The queen of Faerieland came down to the mainland to aid what had escaped the wrath of the corrupted wizards. She cast three of the members into a dimension of eternal darkness, but the remaining member escaped over the mountains. Jahbal's fortress was sealed away, but he still managed to unleash monsters as the years passed. You were reported dead, and I spent hundreds of years haunting this place in bitter anger." Faelinn shook her head sadly and stared off into the distance. "About five centuries ago, a white Lupe came and freed the city. He then went on to defeat Jahbal. After that, my city was able to rest in peace. That is, until you arrived. I felt your return, and I was curious as to why your ghosts would come to my city." Faelinn gave a slight smile. "However, I see that you are not ghosts."

"Wait a moment!" Ky interrupted. "Are you telling me that we have been asleep for _**TWO THOUSAND YEARS?!**_"

"Oh, is that what you were doing all this time? I thought you might have returned to your own time." Faelinn frowned.

"That is what I was trying to do!" Ky moaned. "When we woke up in the Techo Caves, I thought the spell had failed. Now I see that it just wasn't strong enough. We needed all of our memories for the spell to work," she said bitterly. "Now we will never get home."

"Actually, Ky, your spell did work," Faelinn replied soothingly. "You used a particular form of the spell that returned you to 'the time where you were needed'. You are needed now."

"But the Circle is broken. There is nothing left here for us," Kassiel said wearily. "Jantal and Zan are... I mean, _were_ obviously Jahbal and Xantan, respectively. It is a shame they had to end up that way." He shook his head. "I wonder who the other four were?"

"I thought you, of all Eyries, would have recognized them, Kassiel. The other four were none other than The Three and The Darkest Faerie," Ky said dryly. She turned to Faelinn. "Where are we needed?"

Faelinn nodded and the air before her swirled and became a portal. "Far away, I am not certain where, the last of the descendants of the Kayannin are gathering to build a grand city. They can not complete it without all the living descendants present. You are needed there." She gave us a sad look. "I do not believe we will meet again, but do remember me."

We stood up and said our goodbyes. Right before we left, Faelinn showed me the location of the last artifact of the Kayannin. It was an enchanted book written in the ancient language. "This is the Kayannin book of records. It was entrusted to me when I became leader of Kal Panning, and now I give it to you. It shows the ordinary reader the information last read by the previous reader, but for descendants of the Kayannin that have enough power, it can show the records of any of the activities of any of the Kayannin or their descendants. I believe it would be better used in the new city than it would be used here. Farewell." With that, she faded away, and I never saw her again.

We stepped through the portal to a much happier scene. Hundreds of pets were working on a rather large castle, and I hardly noticed as the portal closed behind us. A group of builders sat huddled over a set of maps, and one of them cried out as we approached. "They are here! The last ones are here!" the Lenny trilled gleefully. We were immediately surrounded by a welcoming committee. "At last, the city can be completed! Ah, but forgive me, you have journeyed a long way to come here. Come, sit down." Our stunned group was guided to the blueprints our hostess had been viewing earlier. They looked strangely familiar. I was startled to realize that they were nearly identical to the blueprints of the Darigan Citadel. I cried out in alarm when I saw the scribble at the bottom of the page; "D. A. R. I. G. A. N."

"Where are we?" Ashiel muttered. "This doesn't look anything like the Darigan Citadel."

"That is because it is not finished. You six still have to add to it before it can be completed," the Lenny explained softly. "We have been waiting many years for you to arrive. What has kept you?"

I glanced over at my sister and sighed. "That might take some explaining..."

It took many days to tell the entire story, and all the while the book I was holding was buzzing with energy while it recorded everything that was said. At last, we had caught up to the current situation, and the Lenny gave a tremendous sigh. "Oh dear! That must have been a terrible ordeal. Yes, this is indeed the same Citadel as the one you came from; it pains me to think that it will eventually reach such a state. Still, it must be completed. A great deal of history rides on the existence of the '**D**oor **A**ttached to a **R**ealm that **I**nvites **G**ood for **A**ll **N**eopians'; the timeline will be horrendously ruined and paradox will ensue if it isn't built."

Ky frowned as she eyed the blueprints, and then suddenly brightened. "This tremendous empty space here... What is it for?"

The Lenny shook her head. "It must be for you, because no one else has used it. What did you have in mind?"

Ky began pacing, and I could see she was brimming with energy. "It is just the right spot... Yes, but I will need some materials..." She abruptly halted and whirled around. "Do you have a forge that I could use, as well as some iron ore?"

--

We spent the next few months in the young D.A.R.I.G.A.N. Citadel. Ashiel and Lilly helped organize a library system and set up the Darigan Chambers. Alex, Kassiel, and I discussed possibilities of ways to govern the Citadel with Lady Kay, the Lenny that had first greeted us upon our arrival. Ky, in the meantime, had retreated to her new forge, and was working on another project of hers. Our group became known as "the Founders" because we were working on the foundations of the Citadel. We entrusted the Staff of Ni-tas, the Dagger of Eternal Light, and the Kayannin's book of records to Lady Kay, who promised to keep them safe.

It was a long time before Ky was ready to unveil her latest project, and it was met with a great deal of excitement and confusion. Ky had been working on designs for large enchanted engines; not only had she made the blueprints, she had made several miniatures and most of the key pieces. "I'm afraid I have to turn my attention to something else now," she explained to a stunned Lady Kay. "I'm sorry that I won't be able to finish all of the pieces myself."

When she finally recovered from the shock, the Lenny let out a tremendous laugh. "My dear, you are marvelous! I never expected you to do so much for us! Thank you," she chirped warmly.

"What are you going to work on now?" I frowned. "I don't see that there is much else you can do."

"I will not be doing my next project alone. I will need your help," Ky said softly. She held up two more blueprints, and I found myself at a loss for words. In one hand, she was holding the blueprint for the infamous Orb of Darigan. In the other, she was holding the plans for the door that had been the start of this entire mess.

"But Ky..." I stammered. "Ky, you always work alone! Besides, what can I do? I'm not very creative."

"Just find me the materials I have listed here." She laughed, holding up another scroll of paper. I frowned as I saw that the list resembled a treasure hoard more than building supplies.

"Ky, why do you need all this precious metal?" I frowned. "It isn't as if you are going to be building a room out of it."

Ky snorted. "No, just the door." I turned a deep red as I remembered what the door had looked like. "Don't feel bad, Shriek. You've been through a lot since that day you were researching for your paper."

"No kidding," I snorted. "Alright, I'll go fetch your diamonds and rubies. But you better be ready when I get back!"


	2. Chapter 2

I have to admit, Ky really had outdone herself this time. In addition to causing a commotion that thoroughly embarrassed both Master Vex and yours truly, she had stumbled on to a genuine opportunity. The information in the remaining books was amazing; I could barely resist diverting my attention from my work and settling down to read. Even so, I had managed to find about five pages worth of notes in some of the books that I skimmed through. I would have little trouble finding enough information to write my essay, but I found that there was much more to the Citadel than I could ever analyze. I was rather surprised to find that there actually were cookbooks in the Citadel library. They weren't conventional, of course, but they did explain how to make some rather delicious sounding dishes, so I stacked them in the pile of books to be set aside and read more thoroughly later. Glancing up from my work, I noticed that my sister had not been able to refrain from getting off task. I frowned, and nearly jumped when Kassiel nudged me. Raising an eyebrow at my reaction, he whispered, "What is she doing? I know she likes to read, but she has been looking at that one book for nearly twenty minutes."

For some reason, this startled me. It wasn't like Ky to ponder over a book for that long. Something was wrong... I picked up one of the books as a pretense for asking for advice and strolled over to my sister. When I gently shook her, she didn't seem startled, but looked up in confusion. "Tell me, Shriek," she said in an unnaturally calm voice as she held up the book to me, "is this door familiar to you? Or anything on it?" At first I thought she was joking. Why would I recognize something in a book that was already thousands of years old in the time continuity outside of Meridell, and probably still several centuries old even within the Lisha Loop? When I saw the picture, however, I nearly fainted from shock.

Perhaps I should explain something to you. In addition to being a skilled storyteller (even if she had not had any success with the Neopian Times yet), my sister is somewhat of a craftspet. After defeating the first level of NeoQuest, she had decided to research into the field of the making of certain kinds of trinkets. After a great deal of practice, she had made six unique rings. She gave one to Ash, one to Kassiel, one to me, and she had kept one for herself. I didn't know whom she had given the remaining two rings to, but that wasn't what was on my mind. The object of my concern was the fact that the very same design that sat on the ring I was wearing, the design that was one of a kind and no more than two years old,_ that exact design was sitting right in front of me in a book that was practically falling apart with age_. I looked uneasily at my ring, and held it up to the picture for comparison. The images were identical.

I looked back over at Ky. She looked quite pale, and I couldn't blame her. She always had a runaway imagination, but she was still very practical. The sight of one of her designs in an ancient book must have been quite a shock. With a slight grimace, I pulled her to her feet and marched right up to Master Vex. The Mynci raised a scarred eyebrow at my manner, but didn't comment. I held the book out to him, and he took it from me. As he looked at the cover and the picture of the door, I asked, "Do you know how old this book is?"

He gave me a slight look of surprise, and my heart sank as I noticed that he looked uneasy as well. "Yes," he said slowly, "I do know how old this book is, but I am quite frankly surprised to see it. This is the oldest book the Citadel ever had, and apparently it still exists. It is said that this book dates back to the Founding of the Darigan Citadel, which was at least five thousand years ago."

Ky would have fainted had I not been holding her up with a grip of iron. "Are you sure? I mean, that this is real?" I said in a choked voice.

Master Vex nodded his head. "I am completely satisfied that it is genuine. There is a picture of a legendary door that is enchanted to appear only to citizens of the Darigan Citadel, and such spells were lost long ago."

"But Master Vex, we saw the picture of the door, and we were born on Terror Mountain," I protested. By this time, the rest of the group had crowded around to see what was so interesting. Master Vex waved his hand for room, and everyone took a step back.

"That is highly unlikely," he said with a frown. Everyone had completely forgotten the original mission and began to contribute suggestions. Master Vex got a pained look on his face and raised a hand for silence.

Suddenly, Lilly piped up. I must admit that I jumped, because I hadn't heard her speak since we left Meridell. "I can see the picture too, sir. It is a door of gold that has twelve stones on it, each with a different symbol. And one of the symbols looks like this," she added, displaying a ring not too different from my own. One by one, the six of us displayed our rings next to the picture of the door. Each ring had a corresponding stone in the picture, and the designs were identical to the smallest detail. Master Vex looked like he was about to faint.

"This is extremely unusual. I suppose since you can see the picture of the door, you can also tell me its location on the Citadel," he said with a hint of disbelief and sarcasm.

Alex shook her head. "No, but we could follow the map," she offered helpfully. Everyone stared at her. "What?" she protested. "There is a map in the back of the book."

Master Vex quickly turned to the back of the book. "I don't see anything," he scowled. I blinked in surprise, because I found myself looking at what appeared to be a blueprint of the Citadel dungeons.

Celestial cleared her throat. "We have been researching for several hours. Now would be a good time to take a break. We could try to find the door; it is rumored that there are treasures of great worth behind it."

Master Vex glanced at Lilly. "Alright, we'll follow this map of yours. But I swear, if this is all an elaborate hoax..." He let his tone speak for itself.

Ky led the march through the dungeons because she was the best at reading maps. I was relieved that she knew where she was going, because the path was extremely complex. After a while, we left the portion of the dungeons that was lit by torches; as soon as it became too dark to go on, however, our rings blazed with enough light to make a light faerie jealous. This solidified our feelings of unease, and Master Vex had unsheathed his dagger. To my great amazement, his dagger was glowing as well.

Other than the sounds of our footsteps and our breathing, our journey was completely silent. We seemed to have been walking forever; the further we progressed, the more sinister everything looked. The shadows almost seemed to take on a form of their own, and there was even a mist in the air. It all felt like we were some sort of storybook characters. I was not pleased. There was something about the entire ordeal that screamed danger, a sort of pattern. The fact that it was probably staring right in front of my face did not help one bit in grasping what it could possibly be. Before I could ask anyone else if they noticed anything strange, we arrived at the door.

The Door of the Founders is breathtaking. I don't know why it is called a door, since there are no handles or knobs of any kind; it is all one smooth slab of marble. In the middle of the door, there were twelve stones arranged in a circle; six of them I recognized. Using the design of a Techo Clock, I shall describe them here.

At the position of noon, there was an oval sapphire with a picture divided into four parts: the burning landscape of the Lost Desert to symbolize sand, the depths of Maraqua (albeit the Maraqua that stood long, long ago) to symbolize the sea, the frozen tundra of Terror Mountain to symbolize the snow, and a serene group of clouds and open air to symbolize the sky. This picture corresponded to Ky's ring.

At one o clock, there was another oval; an emerald. On the emerald there was a set of scales in equilibrium. The scales were blue with jagged streaks of yellow. I suppose this symbolized rational judgment. That would make sense, seeing the corresponding ring belonged to Lilly.

At two o clock, there was a third oval, a stunning ruby. Not surprisingly, the symbol on the ruby was the shield of Meridell. This stone matched to Alex's ring, and I could not help but find the irony of the stone it sat next to.

At three o clock, there sat a brilliant diamond shaped tanzanite with a picture of two spears crossed over a circular black and white shield that was ringed with purple. This was the symbol of the Eyrie Guard, so the placement of it right next to the Shield of Meridell was probably a deliberate irony, and Kassiel did not seem amused that the symbol of his ring was placed in such a way.

At four o clock sat a diamond shaped amethyst. The symbol it portrayed was rather simple, and not very clear; for some reason, my sister had chosen to make Ashiel a ring that had the symbol of a compass on it. I never understood why, and seeing Ashiel's symbol on a larger scale did not make the intent any clearer.

At five o clock, there sat a diamond shaped ruby that was flaming with such intensity that I had to squint to see the picture on it. Sure enough, there was a picture of the Citadel, the Citadel as it once was, long ago. In the background, my first initial was displayed twice; forward and backward, so that if I wanted to use my ring as a seal, it would be symmetrical.

The next six stones were ones that I did not recognize, but the symbols were of the same style as the first six were. At six o clock, there was another oval; a black pearl. The only things on the pearl were a simple ring with a dot in the middle and a large brown "X" superimposed in the background, very similar to the manner that my red "S" was displayed (only there was just one "X" instead of two, probably because "X" is symmetrical and "S" is not), which was a strong indicator that whoever the symbol corresponded to had a name that began with "X".

At seven o clock there was another diamond shaped ruby, only this one was clouded and dull. A wicked looking staff that was emitting bolts of lightning was centered on it, but there were no initials. For some reason, both the staff and the ring on the previous stone looked annoyingly familiar, but I could not say why.

The stones at eight, nine, and ten o clock were connected by a ghastly looking current of energy. The stones were cracked and dull, but glowed with the same color as the current that connected them. I shivered again, and the feeling that there was a pattern right before me was almost overwhelming, but I still did not recognize the danger for what it was. At eight o clock there was a simple dagger, covered in what definitely was not rust. Nine o clock boasted an evil looking throne. The stone at ten o clock displayed only piles of gold coins. I really should have recognized what was going on by then, but I couldn't think properly.

At eleven o clock there was a spherical pearl that displayed a red amulet on a golden chain. The amulet looked familiar, but I did not understand why. At last, I gazed at the scene in the center of the circle of the twelve stones. I cried out in astonishment as I finally understood what was going on, but I was too late. A cold laughter filled the air, and the twelve stones pulsed with energy, the energy from the stones of The Three spreading out and encompassing all the stones. The picture in the middle became a portal to another dimension, and I knew that The Three were about to be freed. I did not know what to expect, but I certainly did not expect what happened next.

Master Vex suddenly threw his dagger at the portal. It stopped right between the two dimensions, and crackled with energy that became a very strong barrier. The energy from the stones abruptly began to streak toward the dagger in the pattern of a spiral. The light from the rings diverted into beams of energy and ran right through the dagger, causing the entire hallway to be filled with an eerie light. Then, before anyone could move, the energy lashed out and enveloped the six of us. Master Vex and Celestial cried out, but they could do nothing as we were dragged through the portal to another time and place...


	3. Chapter 3

When I finally rejoined the waking world, I was extremely confused to see mountains. Then I remembered what had happened. I sat up with a groan. "Where are we?" I asked groggily. I wasn't pleased with the answer.

"Fyora knows, Shriek. We must have traveled an extremely long distance back in time, because there are no mountain ranges like this that I know of in modern or medieval Neopia. Are you alright? You were out for days."

"I guess so," I sighed, blinking away the clouds in my vision. I was relieved to find myself looking at my sister, who seemed practically unchanged other than the fact that she looked exhausted. "Where is everybody?"

"They went scouting to make certain that Master Vex and Celestial hadn't come back in time with us; we all were within a few yards of each other, but those two have not been seen. I don't think they came, because none of those symbols matched what I would have made for the two of them. Still, it gave them something to do while you came to."

I snorted and tried to stand up. The disorientation still clung to me, and I fell over. Ignoring the painful attack on my pride, I contented myself with lying sprawled on the ground. "We should fly to the north-northeast and up into the clouds. If there is one thing that can be certain, it is that Faerieland exists and that is where we are most likely to be able to find out when we are."

"We aren't going to Faerieland," Ky said quietly. "You see, until about a few thousand years before Altador was founded, the Faerie Wars were in full swing. Whenever we are, we are going to find out here, on the ground."

I waved as I saw Kassiel flying overhead, and he swooped down to greet us. He looked relieved to see me, and I began to realize I must have been out for a lot longer than I had previously thought. "I'm glad you're awake, Shriek. I thought you would be out for quite a while." Kassiel turned to Ky. "Well, Celestial and Vex are nowhere to be found. I guess they stayed behind," he said with a sigh.

Over the next fifteen minutes, the rest of our little group slowly returned from their searches. When the six of us were gathered together and snacking on some cookies that Ky had stashed in her pockets, we discussed what we would do next. "The question is," Ashiel muttered, "what do we do now? We don't know where we are or when we are. How are we going to get back home?" he muttered as he gave Ky an accusing glance.

"Hey, I didn't want this to happen!" Ky protested. "I think that I may have an idea of our location in regards to space and time, but I am not so certain about the last question. If I built that door at one point, the only reason I would have configured it to do something like that was if we were MEANT to travel back in time."

"Please," I moaned, holding my head, "I already have enough difficulty understanding how the Lisha Loop works."

"I'm just telling you what might be going on!" she snapped. "As I was saying, I suspect that if I made that door, then we were sent here to either cause something to happen or to prevent something from happening. But it doesn't fit in with my guess as to where and when we are."

"It might and we aren't aware of it, Ky," Lilly said gently. "After all, a great deal of Neopia's past is extremely obscure."

Alex nodded in agreement. "In any case, we should travel to the west. I think I saw a city."

Kassiel frowned. "I don't know if we should go just yet. Ky is the only one armed, and we have no idea what kind of situation this area is in."

I blinked in surprise. Ky always carried her two favorite swords, and I had completely forgotten they were there. Ky didn't seem pleased with the analysis. "We don't want to be seen as aggressive. Besides, what other choice do we have? I might be able to make you some swords, but I don't happen to have a forge handy." There were murmurs of agreement. "At any case, I think we will be just fine the way we are."

"We'll find out one way or another soon enough," I muttered darkly as I glanced at my ring.

There is a very substantial advantage in the ability of flight. In addition to the amount of time it saves in travel, it also allows someone the ability to see more of where they are going. When we took off into the sky and flew to the west, I was surprised to see a rainbow in the city. It hadn't rained recently, so I wasn't entirely certain where the rainbow had come from. It seemed strangely familiar, like many things I had recently seen, but I still wasn't sure why. At least, I wasn't sure until Alex said, "This can't possibly be Neopia Central. It isn't in the right place."

"Geography changes as time moves on, Alex," Ashiel grunted. "What makes you think that this is Neopia Central?"

"It has the Rainbow Pool," I pointed out, both with words and action. "That is the only place I know of that has a pool like that."

"The Rainbow Fountain is similar," Lilly countered. "For all we know, that could be Faerieland on the ground."

"Highly unlikely," Ky snorted. "No, I think that this could possibly be Neopia Central as it was long ago. However, I am not certain as to how a fortress like that disappeared..."

There was no more time for arguing, for we had come upon the outskirts of the city. As we entered its bustling streets, I was surprised at the atmosphere. There was constant activity everywhere, and my head whirled with all the action. Ky didn't seem fazed. It occurred to me that in one aspect, the heart of Neopia had never changed; it was always busy and crowded. Some of the pets gave Alex some very odd looks when they saw her shield, but they didn't bother us. As we walked through the marketplace, I could tell Ky was sorely tempted by some of the marvelous trinkets that the merchants had to offer. To distract her, I pointed out what appeared to be a library, and we all walked inside to try and discover when we were. Ky gave a shout of surprise when she saw the inhabitant. I must admit I was slightly startled as well. "Eleus Batrin?" I squawked. I couldn't believe it. We had transported all the way back to the era of NeoQuest!

The wizened Kyrii bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Greetings, travelers. I see my reputation precedes me. May I be of any service to you?"

"But... but you must be thousands of years old!" Ashiel sputtered. I glanced at Ky to see if she had reached the same conclusion, but she seemed a bit unsure.

Eleus laughed. "Ah, youngsters these days! They forget the traditions of old. No, I am not several thousand years old. You see, my family has looked over this library and aided the city leaders for many generations. The eldest in the family takes up the name of Eleus Batrin. It has always been this way." Ky seemed very relieved. "Where do you hail from?"

Sometimes, Ky can be quite clever. Instead of playing all her cards right then, she had an amazing idea. "Well, sir, I don't know if the name would be quite familiar to you. Do you happen to have a map? I might be able to point to the location of my hometown." I smiled in pride. Maps are often a good indication of the time period they came from, and Neopia Central (in any time period) wouldn't be quite up to snuff if it didn't have some sort of map.

Eleus stared at the ceiling and stroked his beard for a moment and then hobbled over to a shelf of scrolls. After a few seconds, he gave a grunt of satisfaction and returned to our group with a large map. Unfurling the map, Ky bit her lip as she pointed to the southernmost point on the map. I could tell she was worried, and I shared her concern. The map was identical to the one that is displayed in the NeoQuest board game. However, the hills had been completely empty of monsters. It was obvious that we were missing something here. Eleus seemed surprised. "You traveled all that way?" he said with a hint of disbelief. "You are but children..."

"We flew over the sea to make the trip faster," Kassiel offered helpfully. This suggestion visibly relieved our host.

Ky glanced at the map and took a wild chance, but one that was certain to help us pinpoint the time. "We visited Kal Panning on our way here."

Eleus nodded. "Ah, yes. How is Faelinn running her part of the Empire these days?"

"The Empire?" I asked blankly. Ky shot me a warning look, but I ignored it. If we were reportedly living at the edge of civilization, then there was nothing wrong if I had no idea what Eleus was talking about. "What Empire?"

Eleus chuckled softly. "Ah, youngsters these days!" he repeated. Apparently, it was a favorite saying of his. "All travel and no study. I am referring, of course, to the Great Neopian Empire."

Ky was fuming. "Perhaps you can give my brother a refresher course in current events, sir," she said through gritted teeth.

The grizzled Kyrii beamed. "But of course. Kal Panning is but one of the factions of the vast Neopian Empire. There are many parts to the Empire, but most of the cities have fallen into a state of decline ever since trouble began to stir in the Desert of Roo. Kal Panning and Neopia City are the farthest from the action, so we are fortunate to be untouched by the fighting. However, we are planning to send out two scholars by the end of the month to see what exactly is going on." He stared curiously at Ky. "I am almost tempted to send the six of you with them. You obviously are very resourceful, or you would never have made it to Neopia City. Also, there are very few left nowadays that can read a map like that." He sighed and shook his head. "But again, you are only children. I can't bring myself to send you into danger."

Lilly frowned. "If we were armed and obtained some armor, would you allow us to go?"

"Of course. Unfortunately, I don't have anything your size to spare, and I doubt that the smiths would make something for you," Eleus replied gently.

"That won't be a problem, sir," Ashiel said with a bow. "My friend here is a smith herself. All we would need is some raw materials."

Eleus gave Ky a look of astonishment. "Is this true?" he said with a hint of disbelief.

Ky sighed. "Yes," she said a bit flatly, "I can make weapons and armor. However, it might take a few days. I am more accustomed to the resources that the tundra has to offer. Given time, I will be able to work with anything you can provide me to work with." I was about to ask how weapons and armor would help us when we were most definitely not warriors, but Ky gave me that look of hers and the question died on my beak.

Fifteen minutes later, we were in a cave to the north-northwest of Neopia City. Ky was hard at work using a brand new forge, and the rest of us were having a meeting. "It appears we are in the time that NeoQuest takes place, but none of this makes sense," Ashiel said over Ky's noisy work. "By the time NeoQuest takes place, the Neopian Empire has fallen apart, and so has Kal Panning."

"Then we must be during the time of the Empires, and not in the time of NeoQuest," Lilly countered. "That would make the most sense. However, it doesn't explain, using Ky's theory, why we are here." She looked at me with a plea on her face. "Do you have any idea about what is going on?" she asked wistfully.

I shook my head. "No, and I don't think we are going to find out a great deal of information until we get to this desert place. I think that Ky knows a lot more than she is letting on."

Alex huffed in annoyance. "Why would Ky hide something from us? She is stuck in the same situation that we are in. Besides, I have known her for quite a while, and I know that if she knew something, she would want to tell the world what she knew."

Lilly shook her head. "I have known her a bit longer, and this is obviously not the case," she said dryly.

I gave a short laugh. "I have known her longer than any of you, and I can tell you why she isn't saying what she knows." Everyone but Ky, who was still working at the forge, turned and stared at me. I frowned at the sudden attention and hurried to explain. "Ky likes to imagine things, but she still knows that these sort of things really just don't happen that often, and definitely not to pets like us. She feels confused, and doesn't want to say something that makes her look like an egocentric fool. She'll tell us when she is comfortable with the information, but not before."

Kassiel raised an eyebrow. "That still doesn't explain about the weapons and armor. No offense, Shriek, but you and your sister wouldn't stand much of a chance in a battle."

Lilly shook her head. "I disagree," she said calmly. "Remember, this is Ancient Neopia that we are dealing with. Pets don't fight with swords; they fight with staffs and wands."

"That still doesn't make sense!" I protested. "For one thing, Ky doesn't know how to make staffs and wands. For another thing, we wouldn't be able to use them, even if she did. We don't have a lot of magic inside of us."

"That is most certainly not true." The unknown voice startled me, and I whirled around to see an exotic looking Shoyru holding a simple staff and wearing a simple brown cloak. On his left hand, he was wearing a very familiar ring, and he had a similar amulet around his neck. Looking at his ring, I realized it was identical to one of the symbols on the door we had come through. I tried to remember where the door connected to, but my thoughts were interrupted by a question. "Your sister, that is her over there? I am envious of you."

I rolled my eyes and glanced in Ky's direction for the first time since we had arrived in the cave. I froze at the sight that met my eyes. Rather than the small Christmas Shoyru I was acquainted with, there was a much larger Shoyru that looked vastly different. Her coat was the scene of the endless desert, and her skin was the hue of the bottomless sea. Her eyes were glowing pure white, like the frozen tundra of Terror Mountain. Her hands were glowing with the gentle blue hue of the sky, and they wielded an enormous strength that I have never before seen used by anyone. "What... what happened to her?" I managed to squeak. Everyone else was silent.

"Then you have never seen this before, and it has not happened in a similar manner to you as well?" the Shoyru said with a hint of surprise. "That is odd. Well, let me inform you that your sister has been transformed by her inner powers."


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you mean by that?" I protested. What was this Shoyru thinking?! Judging by his staff, he must have been some powerful wizard. He was obviously very well versed with faerie magic. I couldn't see how he could possibly mistake my sister for a powerful being. "She simply doesn't possess that kind of power. None of us do!"

"On the contrary," boomed a deeper voice. "I am actually jealous that you are so young and possess such great power." I whirled around to see yet another stranger. This one was an Eyrie. He was red, like me, but even larger. He carried a vaguely familiar staff and wore an emerald colored robe. He glanced at the mysterious Shoyru. "Well, Zan, these little ones seem to be very confused," he said with an amused voice.

"Indeed, Jantal, they look very confused," the starry Shoyru replied with a sigh. "I must admit, I was expecting something different when Eleus told us we would be having company for the journey."

"Would you please explain what is going on here?" Alex snapped. I could tell she was upset, and I could understand her position. Ky was probably the only one who could return us to our own time period, and Alex had a duty as a Meridell knight that couldn't be neglected.

Zan turned and gave her a bow. The stars on his wings glittered in the light of the forge. "But of course. Within each pet there is a certain amount of power. Some have more than others, but the main problem is harnessing, and then controlling, this power. Jantal and I have mastered both arts, and it seems that your friend over there has also mastered her abilities. I must say," he said shyly, "I am astonished to see so much power within you!"

"But this is all impossible," Ashiel snorted. "Where we come from, we are weaklings. We certainly can't use that kind of magic, even if we had it at our disposal."

For some reason, this comment troubled Zan and Jantal. "Are you saying," the looming red Eyrie asked slowly, "that you have NEVER experienced all that we have just told you?" We all nodded, and Zan sighed. Jantal shook his head. "I wonder," he said, turning to his Shoyru friend, "could this be because of the environment they live in?"

"What do you mean by that?" Lilly asked curiously. "What does where we live have anything to do with it?"

Zan smiled. "The presence of strong magic in the environment gives forth to pets with strong magic within themselves. However, the magic on the outside works as a shield on the magic within; many pets in such an environment are unable to access their enormous reservoirs of magic. That would explain why you have such power, your lack of knowledge of the fact, and why you are not able to use it. Still," he said, his smile fading, "This must have happened to her before."

"Well," I admitted, "she did display an unusual amount of strength for her size when she was fighting underwater." Zan seemed satisfied, so I didn't add that Ky's strength obviously had nothing to do with what was going on at the moment.

The noise at the forge abruptly ceased. We all turned in Ky's direction. She was glowing with some sort of light that slowly began to center around her ring. She shimmered, and returned to her natural form. She stared blankly into the distance, and then fell over. I rushed to her side, and everyone else was close behind me. Zan felt her forehead and sighed. "I thought this might happen when you told me about your lack of experience in these matters," he said grimly. "She has overworked herself. I believe she is ill." He turned to me. "For now, we need to stay here until she recovers."

We stayed in the cave for several days as Ky recovered from her work at the forge. During that time, we learned a bit more about Zan the starry Shoyru and Jantal the red Eyrie. Zan and Jantal were friends that had known each other for many years. They lived in Neopia City and worked closely with Eleus Batrin. They had returned from an excursion to some ruins when Eleus told them about the six of us. He had been so surprised by our arrival that he wanted Zan and Jantal to look in on us to make sure we were authentic.

It wasn't long before Ky was back at the forge. Zan spent quite some time talking with Jantal. They argued for hours on end, and Zan kept glancing in my direction. I began to feel uncomfortable. Finally, Zan approached me and motioned for me to sit. I remained standing, and he sighed. "It seems that you will need some training before we travel to the Desert of Roo. Even if there is no danger there, the fact that none of you can control your powers except your sister, and even she gets sick after such an experience, means that you are far more dangerous than anything we could meet."

"I still find it hard to believe that we have any sort of power at all," I said stiffly. "This comes as a very unlikely surprise."

Zan shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, this happens more often than most pets think. And you really do have the power, just not the ability to harness it. That takes patience, training, and something to channel your energy through, like this," he explained, holding up his ring.

In response, I showed him my ring.

"Curious. I suppose your sister made this as well?"

I nodded.

"Interesting. Did you see her make it?"

"No, I did not see the actual process. She prefers to be alone when she is working on something. Alone can be in another room with the door closed for all she cares, but I try to be out of her way entirely when she gets in that mood of hers," I said miserably. If I had actually watched her, I might have known this could happen.

As if reading my mind, Zan shook his head. "No, I seriously doubt that you would have been able to see her in this state. If you live in an area of intense magic, and she prefers to work alone, then your presence would automatically cause the transformation to cease. And what do you mean by 'that mood of hers'?"

"When she is inspired for something, she starts to act very odd. She seems to be somewhere else, she is so focused on what she is doing. She doesn't want to stop, not even to eat or sleep. When she is bothered, she gets very angry and very impatient, almost like a hunter that has lost the scent," I explained.

To my surprise, Zan nodded. "I see... It makes sense now." Noting the look of confusion on my face, Zan snorted as he tried to explain. "She is not a warrior, you understand. Magical powers come in many forms. Your sister possesses a very rare one that overtakes craftmasters. I think you will find that her type of magic is very potent, but highly irritating to those around them," he said with a wry smile.

"What about me?" I asked eagerly.

Zan sighed. "I don't think you will like the answer," he stated flatly. His tone of voice was not very encouraging. "You will never be able to use your power when you want to, only when you need to."

"What do you mean?" I asked hotly, clacking my beak in annoyance. "Why would I be unable to use my power if I learned how to control it?"

"The best way I can describe your power is the role of a bodyguard. It comes out to protect and to defend, but never to strike first." Zan looked off into the distance. "It will be very hard to train you."

"But why would I need to be trained in the first place, if it is a defensive magic?" I asked, slightly disappointed.

"I'll get to that. I think it is best to describe the rest of your group before I address your questions," Zan said, holding up a hand.

I silenced the many questions that had sprung to my beak and waited for him to continue.

"Good, you know patience. That is good. Well, let me see... Let's start with the electric Shoyru," he mused as he looked over at Lilly.

I nodded impatiently and waited for him to get to the point.

"Her power is fairly common among leaders; she is able to calm down others, see the problem clearly, and always control her temper. Most pets don't recognize this as a magical power, but the fact of the matter is that their influence is tempered and their patience bolstered by their inner magic. Thankfully, she is already able to control her temper. I do not think she will have to be trained."

I brightened up when he said this. "At least one of us can learn to control their powers."

Zan moved on to Alex. "I am not so sure about her power. It is similar to yours, but it is not defensive. Rather, it is an aggressive defense. She may strike first and think later if she isn't trained properly."

I fumed inwardly at that comment, but Zan didn't seem to notice.

"That troubles me. I think that she will require the most training out of all of you, for she is by far the deadliest among you."

My heart sank. "So much for a speedy process..." I muttered. Zan rolled his eyes. "What?" I protested. "You are making it sound like the training will take forever."

Zan ignored my comment and moved on to describe Kassiel. "The large, dark purple Eyrie," he began slowly, "is more of a mystery. I would say that he has the power of both you and the red Shoyru. He will require no training at all. Somehow, he has already received it." This made sense, for Kassiel had completed his training and was a full fledged Eyrie Guard.

"That makes two that don't need training, and two that do need training," I said softly.

Zan squinted as he looked at Ashiel, and then shrugged. "The other purple one, the lighter purple Eyrie, has the ability of navigation."

"That doesn't make any sense," I snorted. "It is my sister that knows where we are, not him."

"That is because his power usually requires a general knowledge beforehand of where something is. Once that is acquired, such a pet can never get lost," Zan explained patiently. "And now for your questions. No, I am not a mind reader, but I have experience with pets who do not understand their powers." The Shoyru took a deep breath. "While the little red Shoyru is very dangerous, you have the potential to be more dangerous still. An attacker attacks her enemies, but a defender..." he sighed, and I felt a shiver run up my spine, "a defender that is not trained will not be able to control the blinding rage and surge of power that comes together. Such a pet will not be able to tell friend from foe."

I was stunned and speechless. The way he described my powers reminded me of the tales that were told about a cruel Eyrie ruler. I tried to remember the name of this ruler, but for some reason, the memories were very vague. I grew irritated as I tried to recall related memories, only to find that my experiences before we arrived in Neopia City were eluding me.

--

We spent the rest of the day in relative silence. That night, she prevented me from sleeping with her tossing and turning. The next morning, she was back at the forge. I was exhausted, and apparently, I wasn't the only one miffed at Ky. "She's going to hurt herself if she keeps doing this," Ashiel said flatly. "Aren't you guys supposed to do something to help her with this?"

Jantal shook his head. "No, this is part of her training. The more she does this, the less of an effect it will have on her physically. Other than that, she is perfectly trained. I suspect it is from learning to control her temper." He turned to me. "Zan suggested that you take on training names. All wielders of magic have another name that they use to be addressed by; their real name they try and keep secret."

"We already have training names." Lilly piped up. I looked at her in surprise. "They are shortened versions of our real names."

Zan seemed impressed. "That is very good. May I ask what these names are?"

We each gave our nicknames to the two of them, and they nodded. Zan seemed pleased. "Well then... Lilly, you stay here. Ky will need some supervision after she completes today's work. I suggest you don't try to find her finished projects; she has probably hidden them. Kassiel, you will also stay here and stand guard." Kassiel nodded his head in assent.

Jantal cleared his throat and looked into Ashiel's eyes. "Ashiel, I would like you to go back to Neopia City and talk with Eleus Batrin. Ky is currently working on armor, but she will eventually finish and desire to work on staffs and wands. That will require some new materials; materials that we did not bring."

Ashiel began to protest, but Zan cut him off. "I believe that you will find that you remember exactly how to get there and back." By the look on my friend's face, Zan was right. Zan turned to Alex and me. "As for you two," he said slowly, "you both need extensive training. You need to come with me to some hills on the other side of Neopia City; it is a well known training ground, so we will not be bothered."

"But my sister!" I protested. "I can't just leave her!" To tell the truth, I wasn't too thrilled about having to train against Alex, for that was most certainly what Zan had in mind.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Lilly said calmly. "Besides, you really should learn what Zan has to tell you. I'm sure Ky would feel the same way."

I sighed and nodded my head. Zan got up and began to leave the cave. Grumbling to myself, I tailed behind Alex as we embraced the sky and turned to the east.


	5. Chapter 5

For the next few days, Alex and I fought each other in the hills where we had first entered that time period. Neither of us were armed, so we couldn't actually hurt one another. I didn't see what the point was, and bluntly told this to Zan. "Do you honestly think I would start with that potential disaster?!" he snorted. "No. I first had to see the particular methods you used." We continued training in this way for almost a month, with breaks at regular intervals to visit my sister. Through the training, I learned the art of sword fighting, but not much else. The "powers" Zan had been talking about never showed up, and I began to think he was making a serious mistake in his original assumption.

Then came the day where Zan started the training session differently. Instead of having Alex and I face off, he motioned for Alex to join me. Alex raised an eyebrow but agreed. Zan flew off a few feet, spun around, and suddenly there were dozens of Shoyrus, all identical to one another. Apparently, Alex and I were to fight as allies and not as opponents. My thoughts were distracted as the Zans raised their staffs in unison, and...

Something within me clicked, and I felt myself transform. I grew larger, stronger, and was armed with a whip of lightning. I screamed my battle cry, and then lashed out left, and right. I didn't see Alex, but I didn't care. Nothing was going to get past me! I wouldn't let them, not even if there was an army at my doorstep! The Shoyrus scattered, and there was a great deal of yelling. My left wing jolted with pain, and I whirled about to see an auburn colored Shoyru clad in magnificent red and blue chain mail. She raised her sword and lunged at me again. I shrieked in defiance, and my whip flew to meet her blade. Suddenly, there was an ear shattering crash, and darkness overtook me...

The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back and pulsing with pain. I groaned, and someone sighed with obvious relief. "I am sorry I had to do that, Shriek, but you were on the warpath."

I moaned in pain as I opened my eyes. Zan's image swam into focus. "What happened?" I asked meekly. I hurt all over, as if I had been working for weeks on end with no rest. The last thing I remembered was telling Zan that I didn't see the point in fighting Alex if neither of us were armed. Obviously, that was the wrong thing to say.

Alex's voice came from my right, but I hurt too much to turn my head. "You... changed. Just like Ky did, only yours was worse," she said quietly.

"When was this?" I frowned. "I don't remember what happened... Were we fighting?"

Zan scowled. "Shriek, that was nearly a month ago!" he exclaimed with dismay. "Yes, you were fighting. You had learned all the basics of sword fighting, and I decided it was time to test you."

Alex must have seen the look of confusion on my face, for she hurried to explain. "We were training, and Zan decided it was time to move on to the next level. He was going to test our reactions to an armed opponent, but didn't plan to do anything more than confuse us. However, you didn't react very well. Like I said, you transformed." I groaned in embarrassment. "You were suddenly even bigger than normal, and you were wearing the badges of a Citadel General, whatever that is. You had an Eyrie Guard shield in one hand and an electric whip in the other. You started attacking the pseudo-Zans, and I do not remember what happened next," she admitted. I looked at Zan expectantly.

"After that, Alex transformed. She also became larger, and a rather deadly looking sword appeared in her hand," he continued. "She rushed at you, so I had to temporarily disarm the both of you. I wasn't ready for that to happen at this stage of the training..." Zan sighed. "That was very close. I must say, even with my knowledge, I had not expected that... You were very formidable." He frowned. "Obviously, this will take quite a bit more time than I had calculated. The time has come to train the two of you separately. When you are both ready for the last step, we might try this again."

"Separately?!" I squawked in protest. "But that will double the amount of time it will take!"

Zan shook his head again. Apparently it was a habit of his. "Not if she trains with Jantal." He turned to Alex. "As soon as you feel up to the travel, go back to Neopia City. Jantal has been showing Ashiel around Neopia for his training, but they are supposed to return tomorrow. Tell him that you need to train alone."

"What about Ky? How is she doing? Surely she has finished her projects by now," I said hesitantly.

Zan laughed. "You are correct; she has finished making some of her pieces. Currently, she is working on making armor and a secret personal project. She keeps drawing designs, then shredding them in anger and drawing new ones. I suspect she is working on something that is very important to her, but she won't say what it is for," he said with a slight scowl.

"What kind of project?" Alex inquired.

"I think it has something to do with some kind of sphere," Zan said, waving his hand airily, "but as long as she is kept occupied, that is fine by me. She does not have much patience, and it is all Lilly can do to make sure she does not overwork herself." He glared sternly at the knight. "You may not go near her finished works until you are done with your training. It would be most unwise to start handling magical weapons when you have not learned to control your inner powers. Even in the hands of a normal pet, Ky's masterpieces would be extremely dangerous. She is making the weapons and armor with particular individuals in mind and her pieces will most likely be attuned to the individual that they were meant for. You aren't ready to handle such powerful pieces of equipment quite yet, so don't try," he said firmly. Alex sighed in surrender.

"Well, I'd best be going," she snorted. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can see what is going on in the Desert of Roo."

I blinked. I had completely forgotten about that. I sat up despite the protests from my back. "Wait a minute... You have only been resting for a few minutes. You cannot possibly be ready to go; Neopia City is miles away!"

Zan smiled. "You were unconscious for quite a while, Shriek. She has been resting for at least two days. In addition, Alex does have a bit more training than you do, so she is quite able to travel under her current condition." He gave Alex a slight nod, and she took off into the air. I snorted angrily. Zan sighed as he helped me to stand up. "I understand that you are upset, Shriek, but this really is the only way that you will be able to control your powers."

"Yeah, but I wish that it did not involve whatever happened to me," I snapped. "That was painful..." I paused and stared into the distance. "How am I supposed to train? Alex has something to go off of, but I have nothing. What if you cannot stop me next time?"

"I would not worry about that," Zan scoffed. "I would just focus on trying to control your powers."

"But I thought you said that I could not do that because they were defensive powers," I pointed out.

"What?" Zan laughed. "You misunderstood me! What I meant was that you cannot summon them on whim. By no means are they uncontrollable; they are just harder to conquer. Do not worry yourself; given a few more weeks, you should be ready."

"A few weeks?!" I squawked. "You were supposed to leave at the end of this month, and that is a few days from now! What if you are desperately needed? And what is going on in the Desert of Roo anyway?"

"We can't just leave you in this state; you could be even more dangerous than whatever is out there if we left you untrained." Zan snorted. "And now is not the time to discuss what is going on in the Desert of Roo."

"But you were urgently needed!" I countered.

"Don't worry, Eleus Batrin sent some other wizards over when we told him it would take a while to train you. Besides, whatever is going on over there has not reached Neopia City just yet. We will be fine." He shook his head and looked off into the distance. "There has got to be some way to train you faster..." he muttered. Suddenly, his eyes gleamed. "That is it!" he hissed in excitement.

"What now?" I muttered warily. "If this is anything like what you just tried..." I snapped.

Zan shook his head and said something that made me feel worse. "Oh no, nothing like that. I believe, since you have lived in the only known area of Neopian tundra, that you know of the beast called the Snowager?"

_Juuuuust great_, I thought to myself. "Yeah," I answered grudgingly, "I am aware that the Snowager will encase anything that moves within the range of its sight in several layers of ice, yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Ah, but the Snowager is a beast that will listen to me. I aided it when it was ill once. It will be beneficial for the both of you; you will learn how to control your powers, and the Snowager will learn about Eyries," Zan said happily as he rushed about, packing up. I felt dizzy and sat down again. _This is going to be a looooong training session,_ I thought miserably.

As soon as I recovered, we set out for the southern most part of Neopia. Because the Desert of Roo was the focus of a great deal of anxiety, we decided to take a shortcut and fly over the ocean. Our first step in the journey was traveling to the Grarrl Peninsula. There were some very ancient ruins in the heart of the jungles there, and I was sorely tempted to take a look at something so old. I asked Zan if we could take the detour, but my Shoyru guide only snorted. "I know you are curious, Shriek, but we really don't have the time. Besides, Neopia City already sent a research team to the ruins some time ago. We would only be in the way of Korabric and Rollay."

I jumped at those two names. Added to Faelinn and Eleus Batrin, that made four names that I recognized in this ancient world. Thankfully, Zan didn't notice my reaction, and we continued to the tip of the peninsula before we stopped for the rest of the day. Our journey over the ocean would take all day if we flew as fast as we could, and there was no stopping point between the tips of the two peninsulas. As we settled down to rest, I felt uneasy. I soon realized that there was a continuous hum in the background. "Zan, where is that hum coming from?" I whispered, nudging his sleeping form.

"What?" he said groggily. "Oh, that? I didn't know you could hear that," he yawned. "I think that is coming from the ruins. Go back to sleep."

"But what is it?" I protested.

"I don't know, Shriek!" Zan snapped. "It is probably due to the high concentration of magic in the ruins. Now go to sleep!"

Grudgingly, I returned to my resting point and tried to drift off into sleep. Sounds in the jungle prevented this, and at one point I could have sworn I saw a scamander the size of a Uni slither in the undergrowth. Eventually, though, I found rhythm in the noises of the night, and fell away from the waking world.

The next morning was filled with tension. Before we took off, Zan and I shared a heavy meal. "Since we are passing by the place anyway," I asked casually between mouthfulls, "would it be possible to visit Kal Panning?"

Zan frowned. "Yes, we will be visiting Kal Panning. Don't get your hopes up; we won't be able to see Faelinn. She is extremely busy running the city."

"That is all right," I said quietly. "I only want to make a visit to their library." Zan gave me a look of surprise, and I couldn't blame him. I hadn't shown much interest in scholarly activities since we had arrived, so he probably assumed I could not read. I was grateful he had the tact not to express this opinion at my sudden interest in books. I wanted to see if I could find something that would help restore our memories and return us to the wherever we came from, but I wanted to do it discreetly. Since Kal Panning was at least ten times the size of Neopia City, the answer would be found in their libraries if it was to be found at all.

Our flight over the ocean was very boring. There was nothing but ocean and ocean for miles in all directions. I was glad that Zan knew where we were going, because I would have just flown in circles. When we landed on the other peninsula the following afternoon, I was exhausted. The fact that we would have to go over the ocean again on the way back made me very irritable, and I was quite willing to spend the rest of the day asleep. Before I knew it, morning had returned and we were ready to start off to Kal Panning. Kal Panning was a huge city. It seemed to have everything that Neopia City had, plus multitudes of additional shops and services, all in abundance. It was quite prosperous, and it could easily have been the Neopia Central of its day in terms of size and services. There were several libraries, so it took a while before we found one that I was satisfied with. Before long, I was surrounded by ancient tomes and taking notes on information I thought might be useful.

There was nothing that dealt directly with time travel, but I did find something that caught my attention. In one of the oldest books the city owned, there was a list of ancient artifacts that were believed to have been made by the Kayannin. Among them were a key, a dagger, a staff, and a medallion. I copied that particular page to one of the last sheets of paper that had been brought with me when we transported back in time, and told Zan I was ready to go. He seemed relieved that I wasn't going to spend any more time in the city, and we started off for the lower part of the continent. Thankfully, he did not bother to inquire on our supposed "village", but went directly to the den that the Snowager lived in during the days of the Neopian Empire.

Before he lived in Terror Mountain, the Snowager dwelt on the opposite side of the Neopian globe. It took us nearly a week to navigate through the blizzard to his cave, and I was certain that we would never reach the den before we froze in our sleep. When we reached our destination at last, I wasn't disappointed. Even in his younger days, the Snowager was quite a hoarder. Instead of small trinkets, however, he had treasures and artifacts of power. Needless to say, he was not pleased at our arrival. "Why do you enter my realm, weaklings?" he hissed. "Leave now, before your possessions join my hoard!"

Zan stepped forward. "We do not come without reason. I believe you remember me; I was the one who healed you after you fought the King of the Snowbeasts."

The Snowager blinked, and lowered his head. "One favor for another, then. Name your price."

Zan motioned to me, and I froze under the piercing gaze of the icy serpent. "This one possesses great inner strength. However, he is unable to control it. He requires training to learn how to channel his energies. You are the only one that can withstand his attacks and be able to be his training opponent without destroying him."

"You wish me to fight him until he learns discipline? That is a rather large favor. You will need to add something to offset what is left over after I remove my own debt," the creature hissed in amusement.

"You have only experienced other beasts of the tundra. If you fight him, you will learn the ways of something else. It is possible that as the years pass, you will be faced with beings such as ourselves in great multitude; your hoard is the only one that remains outside of the Mountain Fortress. Do you wish to be caught in a situation where you do not know how to fight back?" Zan said smoothly.

The Snowager glared, but nodded. "You are wise. I, too, have considered the possibility ever since you aided me. Very well; I will help you."

Time passes slowly in the tundra, so I am not sure how long we spent there. I lost track after the first few days. For all I know, we could have spent years there, although Ky says it was only two months. There is nothing really to say about my experiences of the daily fights; it was very similar to the fights that take place in the Ice Arena today, except that I suddenly had this enormous amount of power. The first few fights ended when I somehow realized that I was not in mortal danger, and I was able to control my rage. After that, I slowly began to have full awareness during the battles. One day, I was completely conscious and fully capable of controlling my actions and abilities during a fight. I still won, but we all knew that my time for training was over. I had passed the test of the tundra, and had not been found wanting.


	6. Chapter 6

Our flight back to Neopia City was not eventful, so I shall skip that and go right to the next fight I had with Alex. When we arrived outside Neopia City, I was surprised to see that the entire group, plus Jantal and Eleus Batrin, had turned out to see our progress. Alex and I were the only ones of the group that were not wielding the weapons and armor that Ky had specifically made for them. Bowing, the two of us faced one another, and the fight began. She transformed first, as her power was more aggressive, but I quickly transformed to defend myself. We fought for hours, with absolute silence covering our audience. At last, Ky declared a halt, and Alex withdrew. In doing so, the two of us returned to normal, and a loud cheer erupted around us. We had passed the final test; we had not hurt one another and we had not harmed those around us. As we were pressed and showered with congratulations, Ky stepped forward, bearing the articles she had made for us.

I was amazed at the work she had done. For Alex, she had designed a suit of armor very similar to that of a Meridell Knight that fought on the ground, but it had unusual powers. For one thing, it was so light, it was as if she were only wearing cloth, but it was tougher than the hide of pets that were painted stone (back when those brushes worked). For another, it was able to expand when she transformed, so she didn't have to change armor any longer. The staff that she gave Alex also transformed with her into a sword of fire. Alex seemed thrilled, but it was nothing compared to how I felt when Ky presented me with her pieces of what I can describe as nothing less than art.

In the pieces she did for me, Ky had really outdone herself. My armor, in its normal state, appeared to be no more than the outfit of an Eyrie Guard's uniform, but it was heavily enchanted so that I would not be killed before I could transform. When I transformed, it changed into a suit of armor very similar to the one Alex had, only it was for an Eyrie that called the Citadel home. As for my weapon... I have no idea how she knew about my abilities. You see, the weapon she made for me was nothing less than an enchanted whip that could transform as I did, and become a whip of lightning... This gave me two whips of lightning, and I was quite pleased.

That evening, we went back to Neopia City to buy some supplies for our journey to the Desert of Roo. We did not dare fly once we approached the desert because we had seen storm clouds gathering over the heart of the desert, and Zan said that the clouds were a sure sign that there was powerful magic present. Therefore, we would need lots of supplies for a desert journey. Surprisingly, we managed to find quite a few good deals in the marketplace; Ky's extra products sold like wildfire, and if we had continued to live in Ancient Neopia, she could have made us richer than anyone could ever imagine. With that money, we bought several weeks worth of traveling food, and departed from Neopia City. As we took off into the setting sun, I could not help but feel we were only heading into more and more trouble.

We had all really changed since our entry into Ancient Neopia, but since I had been isolated during most of the training sessions, I had not been privileged to see the changes that had come over us until we were rushing to the growing storm over the Desert of Roo. It was a good thing we could all fly, or else the journey might have taken much longer. While the fastest route to the Desert of Roo was over the ocean, Jantal had advised against such a direct route. "There is clearly some foul magic at play," he explained to our impatient group, "and I can not advise a plan that would fly us directly into such danger. No," he snapped, raising his voice over Ky's protests, "I will not travel such a route! We will fly over the swamps, and then enter the desert on foot from there." The swamps were very unpleasant, and I was extremely relieved we would not be entering them on foot. We chose to spend the night in Swamp Edge City, a small little town that was surrounded by mountains. The inhabitants were very startled when we entered the settlement, and some were even hostile. After questioning a shopkeeper, we discovered that the situation was far worse than expected.

Swamp Edge City was very secluded, and opportunities to trade were very rare. The only full sized city within several leagues was the Temple of Roo, although there were many smaller villages and lone homes. The two cities were very friendly toward one another, and the trading wagons enjoyed a steady stream of business. However, the mutual peace that the region had enjoyed for generations had suddenly vanished when the Desert of Roo was under siege. The citizens had fled the oncoming battle and retreated to the Temple of Roo, where they were under the protection of a few dozen wizards. Supposedly, the attackers had come from the south, but that didn't offer much help. Judging by the unnatural storm clouds that hovered over our destination, the battle was between wizards of great power. Zan and Jantal seemed very worried, but it was Ky's reaction that caught my attention.

I was distracted by Kassiel telling me to hurry up and or I would risk being late for the meeting. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and quickly followed him to another room where everyone was waiting. As soon as I sat down, Kassiel closed the door and the meeting began. "When we had not received news from Sunny City for over two months before your arrival, Eleus already had a suspicion that something was wrong," Zan began briskly, not pausing for trifling formalities. "Now, with the news of a possible wizard war, it is quite clear that things are not as they should be. The question now would be one of which course of action to take." He looked across at the six of us. "This is not your fight, no more than it is our fight, but I am almost certain that if the Temple of Roo falls, these wizards will continue their journey up to the mainland. I am not asking you to fight if it comes to that, but I think it would be in your best interest to help."

"Of course we will help, Zan," Lilly said soothingly. "Don't get all excited!" She looked over at Ky. "Where are the wizards coming from, anyway?"

My sister sighed. "There are only two locations where such belligerent wizards could dwell unnoticed. Either they came from Sunny City itself or from the Mountain Fortress."

"The Mountain Fortress!" Jantal squawked in excitement, nearly causing me to jump, "Of course! And I had forgotten about Sunny City. I think that the tides might actually be in our favor, if we can contact some of their spell casters. It is possible that they have already sent some when they saw the advancing wizards. If so, then they will require our help."

"I don't know how much help we can offer," I said softly. "We have already delayed your mission by a significant amount of time. We would probably only hinder you."

"Nonsense." Jantal snorted in reply. "You are all fully capable of offering aid in this crisis." He glanced at Zan. "I think we should attempt to find the Sunny City citizens. We certainly can't storm the Temple alone, but we can't just leave."

"I agree," Zan said with a sigh. "There isn't much else we can do. I can only hope that they will have something in mind." With that, the meeting ended, and we began out march to the Desert of Roo.

When a desert is under siege, the desert can respond in a fury. There was a terrible sandstorm in progress when we entered the Desert of Roo, and Ky insisted we turn back so that she could make some special equipment that would allow us to see more clearly. Zan refused, saying we could not risk getting lost. Even Ashiel seemed unable to find his bearings, and we were forced to continue against the storm. Even in the middle of the attack on Sakhmet there had not been such a storm. We were all tied together with enchanted rope, but that was the only thing that prevented us from being dispersed like the sand around us. Sometimes, we were lifted into the air because the force of the storm was so great, and I am surprised we ever reached the outskirts of the Temple of Roo.

As soon as we came upon the boundaries of the Temple of Roo, the sandstorm abruptly stopped. Something was preventing the sandstorm's entry onto the temple grounds, and we were quite relieved to be free of the savage storm. Up above us, the cloud we had seen from a distance brewed ferociously. The temple itself seemed to shake from the storms that surrounded it and the battle that took place within. We couldn't enter the building because there was a magical barrier across the entrance. All we could do was sit and rest from our trek across the sands. To my great surprise, we didn't spend much time alone. Four figures were approaching in the distance, clearly with as much difficulty as we had encountered ourselves. As they loomed nearer and nearer, I was startled to see that not all of our guests were pets. When they broke free of the storm, my suspicions were confirmed; two of the strangers were faeries! We all rushed over to help, and managed to help them stagger to some shelter.

"Thank you," one of the faeries gasped. She looked toward the entrance. "Is it still sealed?"

"Yes, but even if it were not, you wouldn't be going in there," Lilly said firmly. "There is some large fight going on inside."

"Yes, we know," she snapped. "We have to help!" She struggled against Alex, who had been helping her, but was not strong enough to break free.

"You aren't going anywhere until you get some rest," Kassiel said sternly. "You have just been traveling through one of the most ferocious sandstorms that have ever existed. You are in no shape to go dashing back into it, and certainly in no shape to be battling wizards."

I studied the newcomers closely. The faerie that had spoken was clearly an earth faerie, but she resembled Ilere more than anyone else. She wore a thick traveling cloak, and her hair was jet black except for one streak of grey. The other faerie was a dark faerie. She wore a simple robe and striped stockings, and carried a staff. Her hair was very dark, but not as dark as her companion's hair. In addition to the two faeries, there was a Skeith and a Gelert. The Skeith and the Gelert wore cloaks that matched the one the earth faerie was wearing, and they both seemed to be slightly ill. This effect, however, was merely a trick on the eyes by their unusual skin tone. I turned to the earth faerie. "What is your name, and why are you on the mainland?" She seemed to hesitate, so I added, "We won't be going anywhere for a while, so you might as well tell us a little bit of your background."

"Oh, very well," she said with a sigh. When they had been given some of our water and given time to rest, we all sat in a circle to hear their stories.

The earth faerie began first. "My training name is Amber. I was with Myra in Faerieland until two years ago, when the two of us escaped during a break in the battles of the ongoing Faerie War. We came down to the mainland and stayed in Sunny City. That was where I met Avery and Pat." The Skeith and the Gelert nodded as their names were mentioned, but were otherwise silent. "I parted ways with Myra and traveled about the mainland with my two new friends. A few months ago, however, I received a summons from Myra, asking me to come back to Sunny City."

Myra picked up the story. "After the wizards of the Mountain Fortress had been seen marching toward the Techo Caves in large numbers, the leader of Sunny City had suggested that someone be sent to find out what was going on. The four of us volunteered to go see if there was something wrong in the Mountain Fortress. When we arrived, the place was deserted. We were completely baffled until we found the invasion plans in one of the elemental chambers."

Amber sighed. "After that, we rushed to the Temple of Roo to try and help. We evacuated as many of the refugees and inhabitants as we could," Amber said sadly, "but we were unable to rescue them all before the Archmagus sealed the main doors. We have been traveling around the Temple to see if we could find an entrance that was not sealed off to prevent escape, but there was nothing left open to allow for egress. I don't think that anyone is left alive in there." She shuddered.

I narrowed my eyes and pointed to some sand that had been stained fairly recently. "Not alive? Then explain where this came from," I hissed. The faerie seemed uncomfortable. "There are definitely wizards still alive in there. If they escape, then they will overrun all of Neopia! We can't allow that to happen!"

"Well, what do you suggest?!" snapped Myra, "It isn't as if we can take the entire force on. They have gotten completely out of control."

"We could put up a shield," Lilly offered quietly. "A shield that takes away their powers so that they can't harm Neopia if they pass through it."

The suggestion was greeted by several arguments, but Ashiel raised a hand for silence. "It seems to me that Lilly's idea is the only plausible one we can think of that would help. We should at least give it a try."

"Fine," snorted Avery, "but we aren't going to stay around and see if they are in trouble. After all, they did try and eliminate the entire region."

Nods of agreement came from around the circle. Myra sighed. "Well, there is no harm in trying," she admitted grudgingly. "But I don't know if we are going to get the results we are looking for. I know of one shielding spell that would work, but it requires an enormous amount of power."

"If we all cast it together, would there be enough magic to create this shield?" Ky inquired.

Myra seemed surprised. "I think so, yes. But wouldn't that be asking a bit much? After all, we only just met."

Jantal shook his head. "That is true, but time is running short. The sooner we seal the Temple of Roo, the better. I think we can all agree on that," he muttered, pointing to the sealed entrance. Everyone understood the message and Myra explained how the spell worked as we started to set up for the casting.

The shield spell actually didn't take much time to cast. After reviewing exactly what we were supposed to do, the twelve of us split up and surrounded the building in a way that the distances from one caster to another were all equal. At Zan's signal, we all began casting the shielding spell. The effect on me was terrible; I felt as if something was draining the very life from me, and I desperately wanted to break away. Some part of me resisted, reminding me what I was doing. A field of energy began to form around the Temple of Roo, and a few minutes later, the spell was complete. Without the ribbon of magical energy that had been keeping me up, I collapsed into a heap onto the stone and passed out.


	7. Chapter 7

Once again, I woke up from an exhausting experience enveloped in pain. (Fortunately, I still had my memories.) I moaned. Ever since I had arrived in this chaotic time frame, I had been subject to a great deal of stress. It seemed like I was always doing something that involved me passing out. "Did it work?" I asked wearily, not quite awake enough to notice we were no longer outside the Temple of Roo.

"Yes, thanks to your help," a familiar voice said gravely. "We could not have completed it without everyone's participation. The energy we were trapping inside was tremendous; almost every spell caster of the wizard level had been fighting for the fate of the continent."

"Really? How many are left?" I asked as I tried not to pass out again.

"Well, if the reports coming in are accurate, we are the only twelve left on the mainland," Pat replied calmly.

"WHAT?!" I shrieked. "How is that possible?!" I sputtered. I felt ill. "I was not even aware that I was at the wizard level!"

Pat shook his head painfully. "My, but do you have a voice! I can see where you got your name," he said ruefully. I glared, and he sighed. "Only someone of that level could have survived a casting of a spell of that magnitude."

I was miffed I hadn't been informed of that detail beforehand. "But surely there are other spell casters in Neopia," I protested. "They cannot have ALL been fighting there!"

"Unfortunately, all the other wizards had traveled there about a month ago to aid in the fight. There are other spell casters, yes, but only of the mage level. There are none left on the mainland but the twelve of us that are of the wizarding level."

"So let me get this straight..." I growled. "The entire Neopian population of wizards has been locked in a battle for months, and we did not come in time to help them?!"

Pat sighed. "We would have been unable to help anyway," he said flatly. "We are lesser wizards, while the attacking wizards were complete masters of the Neopian alignments. We would have been completely destroyed."

"Just as all the wizards, excluding the twelve of us, are also destroyed?" I snapped back. The entire ordeal had left me in a foul mood.

"Yes. I know it is hard to believe, but that is what happened," Pat repeated firmly. "For a while, we thought there might be only eleven of us left. You almost did not make it."

I slumped back in my bed. None of this made any sense. "Well, now that we have saved all of Neopia, what are we going to do?" I sarcastically wondered aloud.

I was surprised to hear Pat answer me. "Myra and Zan have been talking with some of the major Empire leaders. They think that we should form some sort of Council in order to oversee all of the spell casters on the mainland."

"What? But we are too young..." I sputtered. This was all like one of Ky's stories. Nothing felt real.

"It is more the use of ability and responsibility than age that determines a good leader, Shriek," Pat said with a smile. "Go back to sleep. You'll feel better shortly."

I became fully recovered over the following month. I received visits from all of the others that had helped seal the Temple of Roo, as well as a few of the leaders that Pat had mentioned. Most of them were unable to stop and talk with me because of their busy schedules, but Faelinn was a different matter. Somehow, she knew I was worried, and decided to take time out of her activities to explain things the best she could. "Yes, it is true. There are only twelve wizards left on the mainland. There might be more in Faerieland, because that is where all the magic comes from, but currently they are busy with their own war."

"But why do you want us to form some sort of council? Six of us are too young to be in charge of anything, and all we want is to go home."

"Too young? I do not think so. According to Zan and Jantal, you are quite up to the task. And as for your home... You have a responsibility now. You cannot just turn your back on it."

"How will this council be formed?" I frowned. "I have never been to anything so grand before."

"Oh, it will not be anything like that. Eleus and the others wanted to hold some sort of grand ceremony, but Lilly said that would not be a good idea. It would be costly, lengthy, and for the most point, unnecessary. When you are all completely better, you will meet with the Empire leaders and we will discuss the matter further."

As usual, I was the last one to recover. When I was finally released from the custody of the Swamp Edge City healers, the meeting that Faelinn had mentioned was already in progress. I had to fly in order to get to the town hall before they locked the doors. As it was, I was almost half an hour late for that day's session. Luckily, the topic was an ongoing argument about building a bridge between the Grarrl Peninsula and the Kal Peninsula, so I hadn't missed anything too important.

Ky looked bored out of her mind. We were all at the far end of the table because we were the lowest ranking in terms of seniority. Apparently, the matter of a council of wizards had not been broached yet because other formalities had to be cleared up first. As the leaders nattered on and on, I found that the wood the table was made out of was incredibly soft... "Shriek! Wake up!" Ky hissed. I gave her a bleary look, and was startled to see that the sundial indicated that several hours had passed. "Thank goodness. The meeting continues in five minutes, and I did not want you to still be asleep. That would be embarrassing," she muttered.

I yawned. "Ky, I'm exhausted. Can this not wait?" I mumbled. For some reason, I did not feel well.

"Wake up, will you?" Ky growled. "See, here they come! The meeting is starting again!"

I groaned inwardly and tried my best to stay awake. Unlike the discussion a few hours before, this one would be very pertinent to me.

"As I am sure you all know," Eleus began, sweeping his gaze across the table, "the Temple of Roo has recently been the site of a most terrible battle between wizard level spell casters. Thanks to the bravery of the twelve wizards before you, the aggressor has been sealed within the building until they give up their powers and learn to live peacefully with the rest of Neopia." There were looks of admiration, gratitude, and doubt from the other end of the table. I tried not to frown. "Unfortunately, the battle has left a terrible toll on mainland magic. The only surviving wizards are present with us. Except for these twelve, every wizard on the mainland perished in the battle." There were murmurs of protest and disbelief around the table, and Eleus had to tap his staff to call attention to the meeting. "It has been suggested that they form a ruling circle of power in order to oversee the training of the spell casters on the mainland. In order to do so, they need our consent and our support."

"The Empire has no need for outside influence on the city leaders," snorted a rather elegant Draik. "We have no need for a wizarding circle."

"Do you wish the tragedy of the Desert of Roo to repeat itself in your city, Jorm?" Faelinn hissed. "They are not here as rulers, but as teachers."

"Half of them look like students themselves," pointed out a wizened Pteri. "I do not see how they could teach anybody."

"If they are not going to be ruling the Empire, then why do they need our support and consent?" A Jetsam frowned. "It is not like wizards have ever needed it in the past. They have always acted of their own accord."

"Which is probably why the tragedy occurred in the first place!" Faelinn countered. "And besides, since they are wizards, it would be a good idea to give them authority to teach other spellcasters so that young mages do not go cavorting off and destroying half of the Empire on accident with the few remaining magical artifacts."

This comment caused a tremendous argument among the city leaders. Eleus had to slam his staff against the table so hard that it shuddered in order to bring order to the meeting. "All twelve of them are fully capable of handling the responsibilities that would come with such authority. They are neither here to replace us nor to rule over us. However, they will be in charge of all the spell casters on the mainland. In addition, they will be the guardians of magical artifacts so that such articles would not be misused by lesser spell casters. In order to be recognized as such leaders, they will need our consent and our support! Is this clear? I am not asking whether or not you agree; I am asking if you understand the matter at hand!" the elderly Kyrii growled. The other leaders slowly nodded, and he sighed in relief. "Good. Now, while we hold a vote on this, I would request the twelve wizards in question to please vacate the premises."

I was only too glad to comply. Something had been wearing me out for the entire meeting, and I longed for a place to rest without being constantly prodded by Ky in order to stay awake in a meeting in which I had no say. As soon as I entered the room that had been prepared for me in the local inn, I immediately fell into a deep sleep. My dreams were very odd; it felt as if someone was looking for something inside of my mind, and I did not like it. I was not upset when I woke up and Ky guided me back to the town hall.

I will never forget Faelinn's words when she announced the decision of the city leaders. "In view of your brave actions and selfless sacrifice regarding the incident of the desert of Roo, this council finds you worthy to preside over the spell casters that remain on the mainland. This responsibility is entrusted to you with the expectation that you will take strides to ensure nothing similar ever happens again. We now present the new Circle of Twelve with the Staff of Ni-tas as a sign of our willingness to help and a show of our trust. May you become the best teachers a spell caster could hope for."

I nearly fainted. _The Circle of Twelve! Impossible!_ Then something happened that caused me to ignore all else that was happening around me. Myra and Amber grinned at one another, and the grins were not pleasant. When I blinked to clear my thoughts, I was annoyed to see that they were no longer looking at one another, and had returned to their normal selves. Little did I know that it would only be the start of the decline of the Empire.

Over the next few months, we spent several weeks at locations throughout the Empire. The closer we got to Neopia City, the stranger Myra and Amber seemed to act. I began to notice little things here and there as time passed that caused me to become more and more suspicious. Since our activities were not of much consequence other than the visits to the Empire's cities, I shall spare you the tedious tales of teaching mages how to control their powers and settling squabbles between farmers and magicians. Instead, I shall zero in on the events that wove together to a disaster far worse than what occurred at the Temple of Roo.

After we spent nearly two months in Swamp Edge City, Lilly suggested we visit the Mountain Fortress in order to see if Myra, Amber, Pat, and Avery had missed anything in their initial visit. This brought a few protests from Ashiel, who believed that the journey would be pointless, but the rest of the Circle outvoted him. I must admit that I was a bit uneasy myself, but I was incredibly curious as to what lay inside the infamous structure. In order to get to the Fortress, however, we first had to pass through the Techo Caves. I pity anyone who tries to enter the Techo Caves without a map. After the first few days of traveling through the caves, Ashiel volunteered to go ahead alone so that he could find a quick way through the caves. We all readily agreed. It took him a few days to go through all the winding tunnels and multiple passages, but he eventually had memorized the entire area.

When he returned and we started the journey up again, we made a great deal of progress in much less time than before, even though we were traveling through a far more confusing area. For some reason, the efficiency seemed to upset Amber. I had a feeling she wanted to see the rest of the caves, but that analysis made no sense.

Before I could ask her what was wrong, Alex started yelling and casting fireballs ahead. I felt myself transform, and I was astonished to see a manifestation of light faerie magic attacking the head of the group. It took some effort to drive it off, but we managed to do so before it chose to call for help. Kassiel raised a shield and turned to glare at Myra. "You did not mention monsters the last time you discussed this!" he snarled.

Avery huffed in anger. "Well, we did not know what was causing them! We thought it might be a defense spell. The kind that dies off with the caster."

"You still should have mentioned it to us. Besides, following that theory, that means the wizards are still alive," I snapped, clacking my beak in annoyance.

"Well, we came to see if Myra had missed anything. We will not be able to find out, so don't waste your time arguing," Lilly said soothingly.

"What do you mean? We have to see if there is anyone still in there," Alex glared. I had to agree with her logic.

"No, we do not. This would be a good way to test the higher order of mages; they can keep a watch on the place, so that nothing can escape without being discovered, but they will not risk their hides over something that may not exist," Lilly replied firmly. "There must be thousands of beings like the one we saw inside the Fortress itself, and we are only at the outer doors. I do not think it would be wise to risk journeying further into the building to confirm a theory." She glanced over at Pat with a frown. "In the future, however, incidents such as this can be avoided with a bit more communication."

Amber glared, and she almost looked like she wanted to strike. I could feel my whip forming crackling with energy. At the sound of my whip, Amber's scowl softened and she sighed. I looked over at Ky. I could tell that she knew something she was not saying, and hoped that she would keep Lilly's advice in mind before such secrets became dangerous...


	8. Chapter 8

After the incident in the Mountain Fortress, Myra suggested we move in to the Two Rings Palace and hold the headquarters there. That way, we would be close to Kal Panning, not too far from Neopia City, and yet away from the chaos of the cities. In addition, it would give us a place to store artifacts and hold training sessions for the magelings. We all agreed that it was a good idea, and so began to move in. When we arrived, we found the place a complete mess. Apparently, it had been raided by the wizards of the Mountain Fortress shortly before the attack on the Desert of Roo. It took us several weeks to put everything back to order, but eventually the place was fit for our purposes. Spell casters started arriving shortly afterward to learn from us; Jantal and Zan became quite busy. After a while, the Circle met again to discuss our next visit to one of the cities of the Empire.

Our next important stop was Kal Panning. Kal Panning was actually the first topic that as a Circle we argued about. "I am telling you, Jantal," Alex scowled. "I am not the only one that is still figuring out the particulars of my powers! The six of us would not be helpful at the meetings with the magelings and other spell casters; we could only sit and watch. I think we could spend our time doing something far more useful, like researching at Kal Panning's library, or meeting with Faelinn."

"One of the reasons we were appointed was to oversee the use of faerie magic on the mainland, Alex!" Zan snapped. "It would not be conducive to split up. It would send a bad message to the masses. We need to work together!"

Kassiel rolled his eyes, and I sighed. "Look, we really can not offer much help," I said flatly. "We really are still learning the particulars of our powers. That is, except for Ky, and I am pretty certain that she is under a great deal of stress repressing her powers until she can have some free time."

Myra gave my sister a look of surprise. "Is this true? Are you actually inspired at the moment?" she inquired unhappily.

Ky nodded uneasily. "There is something I have been working on ever since... ever since our group met Zan and Jantal a few months ago. I think I may be getting closer to finishing it now. I might actually have the version that will make it."

I raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. It sounded just like something else I had heard before, something quite unrelated to the current circumstance. I scowled. The loss of memory of my life before we began the current adventure had been driving me up the wall in frustration.

Avery sighed. "How long have you been resisting this surge of power, Ky? You should know that it is not healthy to suppress it for very long."

Ky blushed. "For nearly a month now," she said meekly. Myra stiffened. "Sorry, but we had more important things to do!" she protested.

Pat put his face in his paws. "It seems we have no choice in the matter," he said ruefully. "Ky will need to work on this project of hers or risk a temporary loss of control over her powers."

"Will you require a forge?" Amber asked in a tone of disapproval. I was surprised that the Circle members that lived in Ancient Neopia were so negative when they should understand what Ky was going through.

"No, not yet. I prefer to work at my own forge. _Alone_," Ky retorted, emphasizing her last word. I hid a small smile at her display of stubbornness. Amber gave a small huff of displeasure and stormed out of the room, Pat and Avery close on her heels. _Those three always travel together,_ I thought to myself. Myra rolled her eyes and hurried after them. After that, the rest of us slowly dispersed from the inn's meeting room and began to gather up equipment for the trip to Kal Panning.

There is practically nothing between Two Rings and Kal Panning but leagues and leagues of forest. It took us almost an entire day to reach Kal Panning, particularly with Pat slowing Avery down. We spent the night at a local inn, and the next morning parted our ways. Amber, Avery, Pat, Myra, Zan, and Jantal went to a meeting with the mages and other spell casters of Kal Panning. Ky, Lilly, and Ashiel went to one of Kal Panning's libraries. I accompanied Alex and Kassiel to meet up with Faelinn. We had to wait for several hours before we could get an audience with the leader of Kal Panning. Unfortunately, the meeting was not very pleasant.

"What do you want?" Faelinn snapped. "I do not have the time for trivial matters. I do not suppose you have come to ask me about sending the mages to Two Rings for training under your superior supervision?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Um, no. Why would we do that? Lilly thought it might be a good idea to pay a visit. To tell you the truth, Myra and the other older members were not too pleased with the idea..."

Faelinn gave us a look of mild surprise. "Then... you aren't here to extend your influence into Kal Panning?"

I snorted. "I never really wanted this in the first place, ma'am, and you know that. What is all this about expansion and influence?"

"Then you do not know..." Faelinn muttered, ignoring my comment. "This is not good..." She looked directly into my eyes. "After you leave Kal Panning, where will you next be visiting?"

"I am not certain," I said slowly, "but I think our next trip will be to the Jungle Ruins. The older members seem to have started to show quite an interest in the place suddenly."

Faelinn sat as silent as the grave. Kassiel frowned. "Is something wrong?" he asked softly.

The graying Aisha shook her head. "I may be wrong, but I am getting a bad feeling about the older members of the Circle of Twelve. They have begun to act very strangely ever since they came into power."

"The way you say that, 'came into power', is very disturbing," Alex said with a grimace.

"It is true. Ever since then, they have been gathering all the spell casters they can reach into their grasp. I have no idea what they are planning, but it can not be good," Faelinn admitted with a slight moan.

Something about this made me shiver. "Do you think they are spying on us right now?" I hissed.

Faelinn laughed bitterly. "I highly doubt that, or else you would have transformed by now." She shook her head sadly. "Your time in this meeting is almost over. The only advice I can offer is to be vigilant." I felt that her comment was directed at me in particular, and I felt a shiver run up my spine.

Sure enough, we were dismissed from her presence shortly after that comment. By then, it was high noon. After a short lunch, I felt tired again, and laid down to rest. I slept right through dinner and into the following morning. I felt very grumpy. The feeling that someone was searching within me had bothered me again, and I felt jumpy coming off of the rather unusual meeting with Faelinn the previous morning. I did not feel like joining the older Circle members training the mages, so I wandered over to the library where Ky was researching for her star project.

As soon as Lilly spotted me, she grabbed me with a grip of iron and dragged me through a maze of bookshelves. The surroundings grew more and more unusual, until we finally came upon an ancient door. It was shut tight, but when Lilly touched it with her staff, it vanished completely. Lilly wasted no time in practically throwing me across the doorway and jumping into the chamber herself. As soon as she was inside, the door reappeared as silently as it had vanished; it was as sturdy as it had been before our entry.

Lilly gave out a tremendous sigh of relief. Up until that point, I had been completely silent out of fear. When she made that noise, however, I broke my silence. "What is going on here?!" I hissed.

"Ky has something very important that she wants to show us," Lilly said quietly. "You know how she has been keeping something back all this time?"

I nodded. "Is she finally going to tell us what she knows?" I snorted. "It is high time she did that."

"Oh, it is more than that," Lilly said evenly. "She is going to reveal her star project. She wanted to wait until you were awake. Thankfully you came to the library on your own."

"What do you mean?" I protested. "None of this makes any sense," I muttered. "Why all the secrecy?"

"Just follow me, will you?" Lilly frowned. I sighed but nodded. As we journey through the twists and turns of the caves, I couldn't help but notice we were traveling further and further from our original location. After a while, I lost track of where we were going due to a thick mist similar to the one that had been present at the Door of the Founders. We seemed to go lower and lower into the ground, and then closer and closer to our original level of elevation. It seemed to take hours until we reached somewhere remotely familiar. I squawked in astonishment when we entered a chamber that was about the right size as a very mysterious room in one of the Techo Caves.

"So THIS is what was behind that locked door!" I nearly shouted. "How did you guys find this?"

Lilly gave me a look of irritation. "Just hurry up!" she practically growled. I was startled. Lilly had never lost her temper as long as I had known her, so this uncharacteristic display of temper was rather unsettling. I kept silent as she strode over to another door and opened it in the same manner as she had opened the door in the library. I quickly followed her into a small room where the rest of the group was waiting.

Everyone was seated at a small circular table in the middle of the room. The room was completely bare, and resembled a dungeon cell more than a place to hold a meeting. There were several scrolls piled onto the table, and I suspected we might talk about them as soon as I sat down. To my disappointment, however, Ky began the meeting on another point entirely.

"While the Mists of Time are quite prevalent here, we do not have much time. Thankfully, this place dulls all spying magic, so we can discuss our views freely," she began briskly. At the look of surprise on my face, she gave a tremendous sigh. "Lilly, did you explain _anything_ to Shriek on the way here?"

"No, I did not. I was not sure how far the shield extended, and I did not want him to alert the others. I think they have been meddling with his mind. He always seems tired and grouchy."

I gave her a look of surprise. Ky frowned as well. "Are you certain of this?" she asked forcefully. Lilly nodded her head, and Ky sighed. "That only confirms my theories."

"What theories?" I interrupted. "Why are we even meeting here? I do not understand one bit of this."

Ky gave me an unreadable look. "Shriek, the older members of the Circle are not what they appear to be."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked sharply. "Zan and Jantal have been very helpful and patient with us."

Ky snorted. "Have you ever had the feeling that something about this journey was insanely familiar, but you could figure out neither what it was nor why it was familiar?" she asked quietly.

I nodded. "It is a feeling that has been bothering me ever since we arrived," I admitted.

"Did you notice that these feelings only started when we met the Shoyru Zan?" Alex inquired.

I furrowed my brow. "Now that you mention it, yes..." I clacked my beak in frustration. "That's odd. For some reason it feels like we knew something about this before we met him, but I seem to have forgotten it."

"You are right," Kassiel said. I stared at him. "There is a reason that all of this is familiar. Do you remember how we first arrived here?"

I shook my head. "I can't remember, and it has been this way for quite a while!" I snapped. "Why?! Why can't I remember?"

Ashiel frowned. "Ky found an answer in the libraries, but we don't really understand it."

Ky sighed. "The longer we spend here, the more we will forget about our past. Because we are forgetting some very important things, the only logical conclusion was that we arrived from another time."

"But how would that explain why so many things are familiar?" I protested. "This idea that we traveled through time is frankly quite ridiculous."

Ky laughed. "We probably came from the future. We know a bit about what happened, or at least something about those we have met. We knew a great deal when we arrived here a few months ago, but something has been repressing our memories. That is why everything is so familiar."

"Very well. That might describe why things are familiar, but it does not explain what has been causing this phenomenon, how we got here, or what the other Circle members have to do with it," I snorted.

Ky's face suddenly became very serious. "Kassiel told me about the meeting you had with Faelinn yesterday. Faelinn isn't a fool. She has recognized something we have not been able to spot all this time; somehow, the older Circle members are behind all of this."

She suddenly was overcome with a wave of panic, and slammed her hands onto the table. "Blast it all, Shriek, they are planning something! They were behind the incident in the Desert of Roo, and they are angry that we survived the casting of the shield that they had to construct to cover up their plans. They are up to something now," she said, her voice dropping dangerously low, "and I am afraid because I can't find out what it is!"


	9. Chapter 9

"Well, what do you suggest we do about all of this? It isn't like we can just tell them to stop," I growled.

Ky shook her head. "No, that isn't what I plan to do. The first thing I want to accomplish is getting our memories back."

"And how do you plan to go about with that?" I snorted. "How are we supposed to regain something that we haven't even the vaguest idea about?"

"We need to find connections to whatever time period we came from. The more things we recognize, the greater a chance I will have at restoring our memories."

"Ky, we could have come from anywhen. We don't know if anything is left in our time period! We might have come from thousands of years from now. I doubt anything would be left that would be recognizable," Alex protested.

"Not necessarily. Magical artifacts tend to last a very long time," Ky countered. "Although they might be in a different form."

"That's it!" I trilled. Everyone stared at me, and I hurried to explain myself. "I can't remember now, but I am certain I could remember more when we were around magical artifacts. In addition, I think I know why things are so familiar."

"Do tell," Ashiel said dryly. I glared at my friend, and he sighed. "Sorry, I'm just stressed out from all the excitement."

I cleared my throat and continued. "When Ky said 'they might be in a different form' just now, I was able to say why things are familiar but we are unable to recognize them." The tension was tremendous, and I felt a bit pleased with myself. "We have seen this all before somewhere, only in a different form. If we were seeing something that was in the same form as we know it, then we would probably be able to remember more than mere feelings of familiarity."

My speech was interrupted as Ky began to transform. "Uh-oh," Kassiel moaned. "Ky, you can't be inspired now! We have to finish this meeting!"

Ky turned her gaze on my friend, and he stiffened. "I have not undergone several weeks of training and months of waiting for naught. I can wait, but not much longer. Shriek has said something that is true, and it has provided the last link in my plan."

"What do you mean?" I asked uneasily. It was always discomforting to see my sister in such a state. She looked unreal.

"The things I made for you were a link to your powers, but also to your past. At one point, their colors and symbols meant something. Perhaps you even still remembered what it was. But that is not so any longer, am I right?"

I glanced down at my armor. The design did seem familiar, but she was right; it no longer meant anything to me. "You are right," I said sadly.

"Then we must find an artifact that is still in the same form as we will recognize it. If we bring it here, I will be able to unlock the memories that have evaded us. But it will not be easy. This must all be done without suspicion from the older Circle members. This will be even more difficult, for the only place likely to have artifacts that will not change with time is the Jungle Ruins, where the last of the Kayannin stored their greatest masterpieces."

"Whatever these masterpieces are, they can't be as marvelous as your workings, sister," I said lightly.

I was only trying to lighten up the mood, so I was surprised at Ky's answer. "Well, when I said the last of the Kayannin, I was not being entirely accurate. Their descendants live on. I suspect that the six of us are some of the last descendants of their line."

"What makes you say that?" Lilly piped up. "It doesn't make much sense. We aren't even related."

"There was more than one family in the Kayannin culture." Ky scowled. "The reason I think this is a likely possibility is due to the nature of our powers. But there is no time for that now. We need to map out our plans for the visit to the Jungle Ruins. I don't think I will be able to accompany you. I am getting dangerously close to losing control over my surges of power."

"How are we going to escape detection? After this little incident, I doubt the other Circle members will give us as much freedom as we have experienced thus far," Alex said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I have modified our rings so that they will function as miniature shields against spying spells the other members may decide to use," Ky replied with a smile.

"Even if we find something we recognize, how will we be able to take it with us? You can't just take an artifact like that." Ashiel frowned.

"You might have to trade it for the Staff of Ni-tas," Ky said softly. "It will probably be the only way."

"WHAT?!" I shrieked. "We can't just give that away! That is the oldest artifact known to exist, and it is incredibly powerful!"

"To you, perhaps, but it functions only to those with good intentions. Besides, I wasn't talking about the real one. I was talking about the one we were given."

"You mean... the Staff of Ni-tas isn't real?" I sputtered. "But the leaders... they presented it to us..."

Ky laughed. "Oh, they presented a staff, but not THE Staff of Ni-tas. I persuaded Faelinn to keep the real one until we were all ready to wield such power. At the time, I figured the six of us might be a problem, but now I see that such foresight has granted us control over the true Staff and taken it out of the hands of the older Circle members."

"Out of curiosity, what does the real Staff of Ni-tas look like?" Lilly asked sheepishly.

"I don't know. I have not seen it yet," Ky admitted. She looked around the table. "I think the current plan is quite clear. We need to find an artifact we recognize, and then bring it here. In order to do that, we may have to trade the replacement Staff of Ni-tas for the said artifact. After this meeting, we won't be able to talk until I attempt to bring back our memories. Remember to never take off your rings. And now," she finished, standing up, "I think we should leave."

"What is our excuse? We will have been gone for at least an hour, even with these Time Mists," Kassiel pointed out.

Ky laughed. "I got lost, of course, and you were trying to find me." This excuse was quite believable; Ky tended to get lost if she didn't have a map.

--

We departed from the mysterious room and left the chamber. After traveling back through the endless maze of tunnels, we finally reached the normal part of the library again. When we entered the main area, I was startled to see Zan there waiting for us. "Where have the six of you been?!" he scowled. "I was looking everywhere for you!"

Ky stepped forward and gave a slight bow. "Sorry about that, Zan. You see, I got lost in some of the older sections of the library. Did you know that it extends underground?"

At first I was surprised to see that she was giving away such valuable information. Then I realized she was bolstering her story, and that it was highly unlikely that Zan would ever find the secret chamber. Zan eyed Ky curiously, as if trying to read her thoughts, and then sighed. "Don't go wandering off again like that. You had me worried." I noticed he used "me" instead of "us", and felt slightly guilty at what we were doing. Still, there wasn't much I could do about it.

After a few more days of library research, Ky could no longer contain her surge of inner power, and left for the cave outside Neopia City to work on her project. The rest of us met in Two Rings Palace to discuss a visit to the Jungle Ruins. "We just visited Kal Panning!" I protested. "Can't we wait to visit the Jungle Ruins until later?"

"I thought you really wanted to see the ruins. Why the sudden change?" Myra said sharply.

I sighed. "I had hoped Ky could come with us," I muttered. This was part of the reason, but I was also startled at how quickly things were progressing.

"There has been trouble in the ruins," Avery said with a scowl quite unbecoming to his Skeith features. "Apparently, one of the scientists is encouraging revolts by the natives, and the entire project is spiraling into chaos."

I raised an eyebrow. "Then why didn't we visit the Ruins first, instead of stopping at Kal Panning?" I frowned.

"We only just learned of it," Pat said smoothly. "And besides, your sister was quite eager to make a visit to the libraries."

"How critical is the situation?" Kassiel interrupted. I gave him a grateful look, and he smiled back.

"The scientists have started fighting amongst themselves," Jantal scowled. "More than usual, I mean."

"Do you think we should take the Staff of Ni-tas with us?" Ashiel asked. "We might be able to turn the tide if we bring it along with us."

Judging by the looks on the older Circle members, this suggestion had already been in the back of their minds. They seemed quite pleased at the additional offer. "Yes, that would be a most wise precaution," Amber said softly.

With that, the meeting dwindled off into trivial matters, such as the placement of statues around the palace and who should speak with the cooks about making better omelets. It was only a matter of days before we found ourselves flying back over the ocean, this time heading to the Grarrl Peninsula as opposed to departing from it. We spent a night in the jungle, and resumed our journey the following morning. I had transformed the second we arrived on the peninsula, and I only felt tenser as we approached the ruins. I felt gravely inadequate to handle the task at hand, and wistfully wished that Ky were with us. However, she was miles away, working on another one of her projects.

When we entered the ruins, I could already here the fighting taking place in the lower levels. Myra grabbed one of the scientists running around in the entrance and started asking questions. "What in the blazes is going on here?!"

"Run while you can! He's gone mad, I tell you, mad!" the poor scientist yelled. He was obviously under a great deal of stress. "Korabric is trying to reason with him, but it's no use!"

"Who is this 'him' you keep talking about?" Lilly said soothingly. "We are here to help you."

"No one can help us now! We called for aid from the Circle of Twelve, but they didn't listen."

"We are the Circle of Twelve. We didn't receive the message until a few days ago," Pat growled. "What is going on?"

"Rollay unleashed terrible things in the dungeons," the scientist whimpered. "He's gone completely insane..."

"Who stands against him?" Avery said sternly. "We have an artifact that may be of some help," he offered, displaying the staff we had brought with us.

The scientist's eyes grew wide. "Korabric is in the tower. He is the head of the expedition," he stammered.

"Where is Rollay?" Kassiel asked sharply. "If he has been causing all this chaos, he must have some powerful artifacts with him. He must not be allowed to keep those."

"He is in the dungeons, but why do you want to confront him?! He is insane! He will destroy you!" the scientist yelled.

Lilly sighed. "We can't let him keep control over any magical artifacts, or he really will destroy things." She glanced at Zan. "I suggest we split up; some of us taking the Staff to Korabric, and the rest searching for Rollay to confront him."

To my surprise, Zan nodded. "That is a very sound idea. How about the six of you search for Rollay? With Ashiel to aid you, I am certain you will find him much faster than any of us could."

Zan's willingness to agree to take the staff and have us hunt for Rollay by ourselves was a bit too quick for my liking, but I had no time to ponder. Ashiel started running off to the dungeons. He had transformed for the very first time, probably under the severity of the circumstances. It was a good thing he had transformed, because he didn't already know where Rollay was hiding. In his transformed state, his magical ability was magnified to the point where he just _knew_. Even with Ashiel in the lead, I had the feeling that we were going in the wrong direction at this point of the chaotic adventure.

The dungeons of the Jungle Ruins are just as bad as the mazes of the Techo Caves. Once we entered the dungeons, we found ourselves in the midst of an enormous battle. Ashiel and Lilly got separated from the rest of the group as they dashed forward, ignoring all the fighting around them. Kassiel, Alex, and I were not so fortunate. Once Ashiel and Lilly had blazed through multiple duels between scientists and denizens of the jungle that Rollay had twisted, the attention was turned onto us. I found myself using both whips at once and my tail as a third whip while screaming an eyrie war call at the top of my lungs.

I have been told that I scream louder than any living, undead, or animated object known to exist, so the sound was heard even over the noise of battle. My whips stunned anything that came near me, and I was so completely surrounded that I could not see where Alex and Kassiel were.

This continued for what felt like hours, as we slowly moved along the dungeons. I finally had some respite and managed to meet up with Alex and Kassiel in a hall of portals. Before long however, we were fighting again, and this time against lizards and scamanders that were larger than Skeiths. My whips went flying, and I fell into an instinctual trance as I fought to defend myself. I wasn't aware of anything else until Lilly and Ashiel suddenly fell out of one of the portals. Lilly had transformed, becoming nearly twice her size and holding a sphere that looked like a globe of Neopia. In a flash of light, we were suddenly gone from the Jungle Ruins, and reappeared in the Kal Panning library.

At first I thought she had teleported us to another place in the ruins, because we were nearly flattened as a fireball tore through the side of the building and the sounds of battling spell casters pervaded the air. Kal Panning was under siege!


	10. Chapter 10

By now I was certain that the other members of the Circle of Twelve were truly behind all of this, and I was furious. Fortunately, the library was close to the heart of Kal Panning, so the immediate battle was not taking place where we had transported to. We scrambled to avoid the next fireball, and Lilly shouted, "Follow me!"

All of us had transformed, and we must have been a terror to behold, because everyone ran away screaming when they saw us. Lilly was making a beeline for Faelinn's meeting hall, and we almost had to battle our way inside. (The guards thought that we were part of the attackers.) Thankfully, Faelinn came to greet us herself. We rushed to a room that was still intact to hold the meeting.

"They have betrayed us!" she shouted. "I knew that they would. They were becoming too powerful. We can not withstand this siege for very long; the six strongest wizards on the mainland are against us!"

"Has Ky returned?" I interrupted. Faelinn gave me a look of surprise. "She has been inspired for the past six months now, and had to act on her surge of power before it overtook her."

"Alas! She has not arrived, or if she has, she has not come to see me." Faelinn scowled. "You look as if you just fought the entire army that is at my doorstep. What have you been doing?"

"We were at the Jungle Ruins. The other Circle members slipped off while we went to confront Rollay and retrieve some artifacts," Lilly muttered.

"What?! That was foolish of you," Faelinn snarled. "Not to mention pointless," she added.

"Not exactly. We managed to get one of the artifacts he had with him, and it is something Ky will be very pleased to have," Lilly said quietly.

Despite the crashes around us as the attacking mages and other spell casters blanketed the sky with fireballs, it seemed as if the entire hall had fallen silent as Lilly held up a glowing dagger. I cried out as an image flashed before me; an image of the six of us traveling with a draik and a mynci holding the very same dagger. "That is exactly what she was looking for!" I squawked. "This is the item that will help us remember! Maybe Ky can get us home!"

Faelinn gave a cry of desperation. "Are you serious?!" she howled. "You can't just leave us! We need your help!"

Alex gave the Aisha a stern look. "We aren't from this time, ma'am. We don't belong here. We will stay and help you as long as we can, but I don't know how long that will be." She turned to Lilly. "Does Ky have the ability to teleport?"

"Who knows?" I snorted, interrupting whatever reply Lilly had in mind. "When she is inspired, that Shoyru can do almost anything."

"Shriek has a point. By the time Ky finishes her project, she will have learned of the incident in the Jungle Ruins. We have to trust her now. Faelinn is right; we can't just leave," Kassiel said grimly, clacking his beak in irritation.

We all turned to Faelinn. She sighed. "You had better meet with the magelings. We need a strategy if we are going to get through this in one piece."

--

The Battle of Kal Panning was a terrible ordeal, even though we never reached the point of hand to hand combat. Ky's absence took a heavy toll on the city; while we had some ability to teach and plan, Ky was sorely missed. Without her talent for strategy and offensive moves, our counterattacks and defensive strikes were only just keeping the opponent from storming the city. Our plans remained defensive, and our patience ran thin as we tried to teach spell casters as weak as the enchanter's level some vital faerie spells. Even though we were terribly outnumbered and undersupplied, we managed to keep the fight going for weeks and weeks on end. I was beginning to get the feeling that Ky had been either captured, or worse, and that we were headed down the same road. We had been fighting for nearly two months when Ky suddenly reappeared at the front gates. There is nothing that can describe the chaos she brought with her, but I shall try my best.

Ky had undergone what I later found out to be a Transformation of Wrath. Such transformations are very rare, and the last one recorded was experienced by a faerie warrior. Anything that undergoes a Transformation of Wrath becomes as powerful as the raw emotions within them. Such a transformation is only triggered by extreme, uncontrollable anger within a highly powerful spell caster. Due to the channeling of emotions into power, the subject will not actually experience any emotions. However, the emotions they would be feeling became evident in their actions. Ky's actions reflected an anger so strong and a hatred so deep that I no only recognized that is was her doing by a saying she had made up; "Sand, sea, snow and sky- it is best to beware of Ky."

Ky brought with her several calamities of nature. First, it started raining so hard that the streets became covered with several inches of water. This quenched the fireballs that were being cast back and forth, but it also severely limited visibility. Then, while it was still raining, a blizzard appeared out of nowhere and raged around us. By then, we had realized that Ky was behind this, and had retreated into the libraries. Even inside one of the few buildings left mostly intact, the rage of nature still reached us. After a while, a terrible wind began to run through the city. It hurled objects about, and flung the ice, snow, and rain in our faces. By then, all sounds of war had vanished, replaced by the screams of nature and noises of pets scrambling for cover. What happened next was completely impossible, but that didn't stop my sister; in a place without sand and in the middle of a flooding rain, howling wind, and fierce blizzard, Ky introduced a sandstorm that was twice the intensity that we had seen in the Desert of Roo.

At this point, we started down for the secret chamber. We couldn't teleport there because of the dampening field around the room, but we did fly as fast as the space around us would allow. I was nearly scared out of my wits when Ky suddenly appeared behind me. In her transformation, she looked like a monster out of an ancient tale. I made a mental note never to make her as angry as she was that day. Without a word, we continued our flight deeper into the earth and toward the only safe haven left in Neopia. The sounds of ambush followed close behind us, but Ky routinely caused collapses in the tunnels to slow them down. By the time we reached the chamber, I felt like I had been flying for months on end.

Ky cast a seal on the stairs and strode toward the small room where we had held our previous meeting. We followed her, as silent as stone. When we reached the room, she locked the door and turned to the table in the middle of the room. "The artifact. Where is it?"

Lilly wordlessly took out the glowing dagger and placed it on the table.

Ky nodded in satisfaction. "You chose well. This is the Dagger of Eternal Light." Ky turned to a nearby bookshelf that had not been there the last time we met and placed her hand against it. To my great surprise, it glowed a gentle blue and began to change. After a few seconds, the bookcase had completely vanished, and Ky was left holding a staff.

I gasped. It was the Staff of Ni-tas; it had to be! An image of a malnourished Korbat wielding the staff while attempting to avoid a blow from a bloodthirsty Eyrie flashed in my mind, and I clutched my head in pain.

However, my reaction to the Staff of Ni-tas was nothing compared to my reaction when Ky reached into her robe and pulled out the project she had been working on for nearly many months. It was a golden globe that appeared to be made of nothing but light.

Memories started pouring back, and I shuddered in pain at how painful they were. The others seemed to be having the same reaction. Ky placed the globe atop the staff and took the dagger in her hand. She began speaking in a tongue that was used by the Kayannin. I can't spell what she said, but I shall give a rough translation. (It rhymed originally, but it does not rhyme in the translation.)

"Return to us/ what was lost. /Return us to/ the time where we are needed. /Let this place/ be sealed until our return. /Do not allow our enemies/ to enter this place. /Bring retribution on the traitors, /and do not let this city fall."

With that, she shoved the dagger into her beloved project, and it seemed to explode. Light poured throughout the room, and I was thrown to the floor. The area around me seemed to warp and whirl, but I couldn't see anything through the blinding glow of Ky's golden globe. Then, there was a burst of energy, and I lost consciousness.

The next thing I remember was yawning so hard I thought I would split into a thousand pieces. It felt like I had been sleeping for years. I slowly sat up and sneezed as my movements disrupted a thick layer of dust. The small room we had been in was no more; the explosion had destroyed the walls that separated it from the main chamber. "Ky! Kassiel! Ashiel! Alex! Lilly! Where are you guys?!" I yelled.

There was a rustling sound as five figures stirred in the dust. They were all as sleepy as I was. Ky let out a tremendous sigh. "That was exhausting."

"Well, what should we do now?" I muttered as I slowly stood up, leaning against a pile of rubble for support.

"Well, the spell obviously didn't work," Ky mumbled as she dusted herself off. "We should go see if the city is still standing."

We took our time getting our bearings and shaking off the feelings of sleepiness, but we were ready in less than fifteen minutes. Since the way through the tunnels was blocked, we had to take the route through the Techo Caves. We spent most of the journey in silence and dread at what might have happened to Kal Panning while we were unconscious. It took us several days to get through the caves, and when we finally stumbled out into the sunlight, I could hardly recognize the landscape.

The land had obviously undergone a tremendous transformation. It was hardly recognizable from the Great Plains I had known. Almost all of the tundra had simply vanished, and the forests had swallowed up the once vast plains. Lilly looked over at Ashiel. "Can you find Kal Panning if it is destroyed?" she asked meekly.

Ashiel nodded. "Yes, but I don't think it was destroyed." I became very curious at this comment, but didn't say anything. "I think it would be best if we walked there. We don't really want to announce our arrival."

"But it could take us a month if we don't fly." I protested. "If the city survived, then we have nothing to worry about. If it fell, I don't think it will make much of a difference if we fly or walk, and I'd rather fly." After a brief argument, my logic won out and we set off into the skies.

The forest was strangely quiet and void of life. Even flying, it took us several days to reach sight of the city. (I was baffled as to how it would take days to go between the caves above the land, but only hours through the tunnels.) Kal Panning was in sad shape, but it was still standing. The vast army of the other members of the Circle of Twelve was nowhere to be seen, so we took a day off from travel and rested from the ordeal. We resumed the trek the following morning, and arrived in Kal Panning the next night.

The city looked as if it had been transformed by magic several times. There was no life anywhere to be seen, and I felt terrible. "We failed," I whispered.


	11. Chapter 11

"We have got to find out what happened here," Ashiel said grimly. I could only nod my head as I considered what the inhabitants must have gone through before the end.

Most of the city was underwater, probably due to Ky's wrath. The heart of the city was the only thing left standing, and there were very few buildings left. To me it appeared as if the entire city had been destroyed overnight, and then somewhat repaired. The library was gone, so we could not have left the tunnels anyway, even if they were not sealed off, so we chose to investigate the town hall instead. As we were surveying the damage, a soft voice behind me startled me so deeply that I accidentally lashed out with my whip as I spun around. To my great surprise, the figure before me did not flinch as the whip went right through it. I gasped as I realized it was a ghost. "Impossible," we both said together.

The ghost gave a soft laugh. "I thought... I thought Jahbal had killed all of you long ago. Yet here you are," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Faelinn? Is that you?" Lilly asked softly. The ghost nodded. "What happened? What happened to you, to the city, to Jantal and the rest of the Circle?"

"After you left, the remainder of the Circle cast a curse on the city, and we were overrun. We were doomed to remain here as the undead, powerless to stop the advance of Jahbal," Faelinn moaned. We sat down after she motioned for us to be seated, and she began to recount what had happened while we were gone. "Shortly after the city fell, the Circle betrayed Xantan and stripped him of his powers. After that, the Circle turned on Jahbal, and he fled to the Two Rings Palace."

"Who are Jahbal and Xantan?" Kassiel interrupted.

"You knew them as Jantal and Zan, respectively," Faelinn explained softly. "The queen of Faerieland came down to the mainland to aid what had escaped the wrath of the corrupted wizards. She cast three of the members into a dimension of eternal darkness, but the remaining member escaped over the mountains. Jahbal's fortress was sealed away, but he still managed to unleash monsters as the years passed. You were reported dead, and I spent hundreds of years haunting this place in bitter anger." Faelinn shook her head sadly and stared off into the distance. "About five centuries ago, a white Lupe came and freed the city. He then went on to defeat Jahbal. After that, my city was able to rest in peace. That is, until you arrived. I felt your return, and I was curious as to why your ghosts would come to my city." Faelinn gave a slight smile. "However, I see that you are not ghosts."

"Wait a moment!" Ky interrupted. "Are you telling me that we have been asleep for _**TWO THOUSAND YEARS?!**_"

"Oh, is that what you were doing all this time? I thought you might have returned to your own time." Faelinn frowned.

"That is what I was trying to do!" Ky moaned. "When we woke up in the Techo Caves, I thought the spell had failed. Now I see that it just wasn't strong enough. We needed all of our memories for the spell to work," she said bitterly. "Now we will never get home."

"Actually, Ky, your spell did work," Faelinn replied soothingly. "You used a particular form of the spell that returned you to 'the time where you were needed'. You are needed now."

"But the Circle is broken. There is nothing left here for us," Kassiel said wearily. "Jantal and Zan are... I mean, _were_ obviously Jahbal and Xantan, respectively. It is a shame they had to end up that way." He shook his head. "I wonder who the other four were?"

"I thought you, of all Eyries, would have recognized them, Kassiel. The other four were none other than The Three and The Darkest Faerie," Ky said dryly. She turned to Faelinn. "Where are we needed?"

Faelinn nodded and the air before her swirled and became a portal. "Far away, I am not certain where, the last of the descendants of the Kayannin are gathering to build a grand city. They can not complete it without all the living descendants present. You are needed there." She gave us a sad look. "I do not believe we will meet again, but do remember me."

We stood up and said our goodbyes. Right before we left, Faelinn showed me the location of the last artifact of the Kayannin. It was an enchanted book written in the ancient language. "This is the Kayannin book of records. It was entrusted to me when I became leader of Kal Panning, and now I give it to you. It shows the ordinary reader the information last read by the previous reader, but for descendants of the Kayannin that have enough power, it can show the records of any of the activities of any of the Kayannin or their descendants. I believe it would be better used in the new city than it would be used here. Farewell." With that, she faded away, and I never saw her again.

We stepped through the portal to a much happier scene. Hundreds of pets were working on a rather large castle, and I hardly noticed as the portal closed behind us. A group of builders sat huddled over a set of maps, and one of them cried out as we approached. "They are here! The last ones are here!" the Lenny trilled gleefully. We were immediately surrounded by a welcoming committee. "At last, the city can be completed! Ah, but forgive me, you have journeyed a long way to come here. Come, sit down." Our stunned group was guided to the blueprints our hostess had been viewing earlier. They looked strangely familiar. I was startled to realize that they were nearly identical to the blueprints of the Darigan Citadel. I cried out in alarm when I saw the scribble at the bottom of the page; "D. A. R. I. G. A. N."

"Where are we?" Ashiel muttered. "This doesn't look anything like the Darigan Citadel."

"That is because it is not finished. You six still have to add to it before it can be completed," the Lenny explained softly. "We have been waiting many years for you to arrive. What has kept you?"

I glanced over at my sister and sighed. "That might take some explaining..."

It took many days to tell the entire story, and all the while the book I was holding was buzzing with energy while it recorded everything that was said. At last, we had caught up to the current situation, and the Lenny gave a tremendous sigh. "Oh dear! That must have been a terrible ordeal. Yes, this is indeed the same Citadel as the one you came from; it pains me to think that it will eventually reach such a state. Still, it must be completed. A great deal of history rides on the existence of the '**D**oor **A**ttached to a **R**ealm that **I**nvites **G**ood for **A**ll **N**eopians'; the timeline will be horrendously ruined and paradox will ensue if it isn't built."

Ky frowned as she eyed the blueprints, and then suddenly brightened. "This tremendous empty space here... What is it for?"

The Lenny shook her head. "It must be for you, because no one else has used it. What did you have in mind?"

Ky began pacing, and I could see she was brimming with energy. "It is just the right spot... Yes, but I will need some materials..." She abruptly halted and whirled around. "Do you have a forge that I could use, as well as some iron ore?"

--

We spent the next few months in the young D.A.R.I.G.A.N. Citadel. Ashiel and Lilly helped organize a library system and set up the Darigan Chambers. Alex, Kassiel, and I discussed possibilities of ways to govern the Citadel with Lady Kay, the Lenny that had first greeted us upon our arrival. Ky, in the meantime, had retreated to her new forge, and was working on another project of hers. Our group became known as "the Founders" because we were working on the foundations of the Citadel. We entrusted the Staff of Ni-tas, the Dagger of Eternal Light, and the Kayannin's book of records to Lady Kay, who promised to keep them safe.

It was a long time before Ky was ready to unveil her latest project, and it was met with a great deal of excitement and confusion. Ky had been working on designs for large enchanted engines; not only had she made the blueprints, she had made several miniatures and most of the key pieces. "I'm afraid I have to turn my attention to something else now," she explained to a stunned Lady Kay. "I'm sorry that I won't be able to finish all of the pieces myself."

When she finally recovered from the shock, the Lenny let out a tremendous laugh. "My dear, you are marvelous! I never expected you to do so much for us! Thank you," she chirped warmly.

"What are you going to work on now?" I frowned. "I don't see that there is much else you can do."

"I will not be doing my next project alone. I will need your help," Ky said softly. She held up two more blueprints, and I found myself at a loss for words. In one hand, she was holding the blueprint for the infamous Orb of Darigan. In the other, she was holding the plans for the door that had been the start of this entire mess.

"But Ky..." I stammered. "Ky, you always work alone! Besides, what can I do? I'm not very creative."

"Just find me the materials I have listed here." She laughed, holding up another scroll of paper. I frowned as I saw that the list resembled a treasure hoard more than building supplies.

"Ky, why do you need all this precious metal?" I frowned. "It isn't as if you are going to be building a room out of it."

Ky snorted. "No, just the door." I turned a deep red as I remembered what the door had looked like. "Don't feel bad, Shriek. You've been through a lot since that day you were researching for your paper."

"No kidding," I snorted. "Alright, I'll go fetch your diamonds and rubies. But you better be ready when I get back!"


End file.
